Clashing Hearts
by Yukishiro Madoka
Summary: [On HIATUS until Key to My Heart is complete! Story also may go through reeditting...Thinking of discontinuing...]
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Otherwise, Hinata and Sasuke would get together, regardless of what Sakura/Sasuke fans might do to me. :) 

A/N. Eeek! Another Sasu/Hina ficcie! x333

Okay, I'm not good at these AU/high school fics, so bear with me, oki:D

Yes, Sakura will be one of those snotty, popular girls. Don't get mad, Sakura fans! -cowers under table- Sakura won't be mean later on...well, you'll just have to see. :D

There's gonna be some side pairings too, but I'm not exactly sure yet. T.T Suggestions would be greatly appreicated! x3

-pokes review button- You know you want to click it...:D

(Hint: More reviews --> Me very happy ; Me very happy --> Update sooner ; Update sooner --> YOU very happy)

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

When she felt the sun gradually rise over the horizon, her milky white eyes slowly opened to meet the dull darkness of her room. Hinata Hyuuga tiredly sat up, brushing a few strands of midnight blue hair from her eyes as she did so.

Soundlessly shoving off her covers, she slung her legs over the side of her bed. Her bare feet touched the cold, marble floor, and she finally rose from her bed.

A soft yawn escaped Hinata's lips as she glanced over briefly at the calendar that hung from her wall. Her transcluent eyes widened slightly as they focused upon the red circle that had been drawn around today. The first day of high school.

Hinata frowned. It was horrible enough back at middle school, but now, what would it be like at Konoha High?

She swallowed nervously at the remembrance of how everyone treated her back at middle school. But often, she was disregarded and ignored, which she preferred over being constantly teased about how weak she was, or how ugly her abnormal eyes were.

In Konoha High, there would be massive hallways, and she wouldn't be very safe. There'd be students who'd recognize her and taunt her again, and there'd be new people who'd make fun of her too. It would be like life back in elementary and intermidiate, but only worse. Much worse.

Hinata sighed softly with a gloomy frown as she made her way to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, showered quickly, and placed on a light blue robe as she headed back into her bedroom.

Throwing open the doors of her closet, Hinata searched through her clothes until she decided on a deep violet shirt and navy blue pants. After she dressed quickly and made her bed, Hinata hurried out of her room, stopping to glance at her reflection in the mirror.

Her short, blue hair was slightly messy, and her half-lidded pale eyes seemed tired, or perhaps desperately frightened. Taking a brush, she combed her dark blue hair quickly until every strand was perfectly straight.

It wasn't that Hinata cared about how she looked, but she didn't want to give the people who made fun of her another reason to taunt her. She placed her brush on the drawer, looking straight into the eyes of the girl in the mirror.

Hinata forced a reassuring smile at her reflection before hurrying out of her bedroom and rushing to the kitchen for breakfast. Her younger sister, Hanabi, was aleady there, eating a piece of toast and holding a glass of orange juice.

Hanabi was attending Hinata's middle school, and she had already been prepared for her first day. Her straight, ebony locks tumbled neatly down her shoulders, and a single lock of hair fell limply down her face. She was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and dark pants, which stood out from her milky skin and white eyes.

"Good morning, Hanabi," Hinata greeted softly, smiling good-naturedly as she crossed the kitchen and washed her hands at the sink.

Hanabi simply nodded, munching silently on her toast. Then she turned to the toaster that sat upon the counter.

"I toasted a piece of bread for you," Hanabi stated, finishing her own piece of toast and holding her glass of orange juice to her lips.

"Thank you..." Hinata smiled gently, heading over to pluck the piece of toast and take a small nibble from it. It was still warm, to her relief, and Hinata poured herself a glass of milk as she chewed on her crunchy toast.

After finishing her breakfast, Hinata slung her backpack over her shoulder, grabbed the light brown jacket that hung from the coat hanger, and turned to smile at Hanabi. "Good luck on the first day of middle school, Hanabi. Goodbye."

"Good luck, too. Bye..." Hanabi muttered with less enthusiasm, rushing out the door along with Hinata.

Hinata frowned to herself as she watched her younger sister rush off, hoping Hanabi wouldn't be teased at the middle school Hinata herself had went to. But Hanabi hadn't been teased back in elementary, so it was very unlikely. In fact, Hanabi was well-known and respected greatly.

Why? Hinata wondered. Why was she a prey to the teasing and taunting of others, while Hanabi was one of the most respected people at her school?

Everyone in her family was respected and admired; her father, Hiashi Hyuuga, Hanabi, her cousin, Neji Hyuuga...

The Hyuugas all had the same white eyes, just as she did, but maybe that wasn't a major flaw. Perhaps Hinata was a target because she was so weak and shy.

Today, Hinata promised herself, she would try to not be the weak Hinata everyone disliked. She would try to be like Hanabi, someone worth respecting. And if she couldn't, then she'd have to be invisible.

But that wasn't hard. Being invisble was an everyday thing.

She was already invisible.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

It wasn't so bad. No one had noticed her yet as she walked bravely through the school courtyard, making sure to conceal her milky eyes from view and focusing her empty stare upon the ground.

Hinata surveyed the scene with a distant frown, her heart sinking with sadness as she watched friends reunite after the summer vacation and search through each other's class schedules to determine if they were in the same classes. She watched them laugh, she watched them chatter happily, she watched them smile. A pang of envy and sadness surged throguh her heart.

Friends.

That word was almost foreign to her.

She had never had a single friend in her life. No one except teachers liked Hinata. But Hinata would rather exchange the adoration of her teachers for just one friend.

If only she had a friend that would stay by her side and make her feel truly appreciated and loved...

Hinata swallowed her sad tears, taking out her class schedule to examine it thoroughly. She didn't have any friends to talk to, so she might as well look for her classes and memorize their locations so she wouldn't get lost in this large school.

By the time the bell had rung, Hinata had already memorized her schedule and class locations. She quickly headed to her first period, which was math. Hinata shyly stammered a soft greeting to a brunette man, who she assumed was the teacher, and sat down at the desk that was farthest and nearest to the corner of the classroom, where she hoped she would be overlooked. Hinata pointed her face at the wall, making sure to cover the side of her face with her blue hair.

But surely people would recognize her if the teacher called her name when he took class attendance?

The tardy bell rang with a shrill cry, signaling the start of class. The male teacher at the front of the room smiled warmly.

"Good morning, class. My name is Umino Iruka..." Iruka continued his speech, but his words were lost to Hinata. Hinata wasn't paying attention, dreading about what would happen later on when people recognized her.

"...take class attendance."

As Iruka's words registered a painful realization in Hinata's mind, she snapped back into reality and stared in horror at Mr. Iruka, who was still smiling at the class as he held a sheet of yellow paper in his hand. Her heart sank with fear and dread as Iruka began calling names, one by one.

"Aburame Shino."

A boy with slightly spiky, jet black hair in Hinata's row raised his hand solemnly and unenthusiastically. Hinata turned slightly to have a clear view of him without having her face revealed to everyone. The lower half of Shino's face was concealed by the high collar of his gray jacket, and his eyes were hidden behind his black sunglasses.

"Akimichi Choji."

_Crunch. Crunch._

"Akimichi Choji?"

"Ohh!" _Crunch._ "Here!" _Crunch._

Everyone's attention turned to an extremely chubby, brunette boy sitting next to Shino. Choji was stuffing potato chips into his mouth, chomping with a rather loud noise.

"Akimichi Choji, may I ask why you're eating chips?" Iruka raised an eyebrow.

"Because I didn't have any breakfast!" Choji protested vigurously, popping more chips into his mouth.

"Be that as it may be, but there is no food allowed in my classroom. Please put your chips back into your backpack."

"But I didn't have any breakfast...!" Choji whined in protest. Iruka shot him a stern look, frowning. Choji made a face, but remained silent as he placed his almost empty bag of chips into his backpack.

Hinata remained silent, pointing her face to the wall. Iruka continued calling out names, to which the student would reply with a "Here!" or a simple "Yeah." Hinata bit the inside of her lip gently, dreading what would happen when Iruka called her name.

Iruka continued calling names she didn't recognize. Hinata then realized he was calling names by alphebitical order. He was already done with the people whose last names started with G, and was moving on the people with last names that started with H.

"Haruno Sakura."

"Here!" A pretty, pink-haired girl with dazzling, green eyes sitting in the front row raised her hand eagerly before turning to giggle and smile dreamily at the raven-haired, solemn boy sitting next to her. Hinata noticed the majority of the girls in the class exchange dark looks.

Hinata's heart sank heavily and she swallowed nervously, remembering that Sakura was one of the most popular and desirable girl back in middle school. She was also one of the people who teased Hinata, but she was much worse than Hinata's usual predators. Much worse.

"Hikaru Tenten."

"Here," responded a hazel-eyed girl with dark brown hair tied into two buns that rested on both sides of her head.

Hinata remembered that Tenten had attended her middle school. Tenten was one of the few people who didn't make fun of Hinata, but perhaps it was because she liked Hinata's attractive cousin, Neji, and didn't want to make a bad impression. But from what Hinata had seen for the past two years in middle school, Tenten was a kind-hearted person. Tenten had actually helped Hinata a few times when people deliberately knocked her down in the hallways back in middle school.

Hinata glanced over longingly at Tenten, wondering if they could ever be friends. Even if Tenten was nice, Hinata half-heartedly told herself that Tenten probably wouldn't want to bother becoming friends with someone like herself.

Iruka continued calling out names. Hinata closed her eyes, hoping against hope that Iruka wouldn't call her name. But he would have to eventually...

"Hyuuga Hinata."

Hinata froze as every head in the class whirled around to look at her. She recognized some people from her class as the ones who teased her dreadfully back in middle school, and even elementary. The class erupted, whispering furiously to each other as they looked over at Hinata.

_"The Hyuuga freak?"_

_"Her hair is blue and short! So not in style!"_

_" What's up with those freaky, white eyes?"_

_"She's hideous!"_

_"Take a look at her outfit!"_

_"Is it really true that someone as hideous as her belongs in the Hyuuga family?"_

_"Neji Hyuuga is way better-looking than that freak!"_

_"What's up with the fat jacket?"_

_"What a freak!"_

_"Ha! Bet cha she's gonna cry for her mommy!"_

_"She doesn't have one, idiot!"_

_"What a crybaby!"_

Iruka was trying his best to calm the class down, but Hinata could feel the tears forming in her eyes. She tried to swallow them down, but it was like trying to coax a cat to chase after a dog. Her hand flew to her mouth, and Hinata felt a single tear slide down her cheek. The day she had dreaded was becoming dark and horrible.

"Hey! Leave her alone, you jerks!"

The class stopped abruptly, staring at the one who had dared to ruin their fun. A boy with aquamarine blue eyes and spiky, blonde hair, who sat beside Hinata, glared back at them defiantly, pointing at each and every one of them as he squinted angrily.

"I don't care how great you think you are, or how bad you think she is! She's a person and has feelings too, just like every one of you! You guys think you're all that, but all you really are a bunch of jerks! I bet you she's better than all of you put together! So shut your traps unless you have something nice to say, will ya!"

A hush fell over the class as they stared at the blonde boy darkly. Did someone just actually stand up for Hinata Hyuuga?

Hinata's heart rose with hope, melting slightly at the boy's words. The tears were slowly fading, and Hinata smiled weakly as she clenched her hand slightly and brought it to her chest. She swallowed her tears, for there was no need for tears with this strong-willed, kind-hearted boy.

"That's enough. Naruto, you are absolutely right," Iruka smiled. "Hinata is a person and has feelings, just like everyone else. From now on, class, I don't want you teasing Hinata, or anyone else for that matter. Understand?"

The class nodded dumbly, but a few gave Hinata and Naruto dirty glares. Hinata ignored the bitter looks, concentrating her glassy eyes only upon the blonde boy, whom Iruka had called Naruto.

_Naruto..._Hinata smiled to herself.

"Okay, let's move on. Inuzuka Kiba?"

"Yeah," a boy withsharp hair answered, who was sitting next to Naruto. Hinata glanced briefly at him, recognizing him from her middle school. He really had dark brown hair, but his "spiky, black hair" was from the hood of his gray jacket. Kiba was a rather spunky guy, but he was a good-hearted person.

"Nara Shikamaru?"

"Yeah..." responded a boy with spiky,black hair, seemingly bored out of his mind as he rested his elbow on his desk and his cheek in his cupped palm.

"Sabaku Temari."

"Ehh...yeah..." a blonde girl muttered, who was sitting next to Shikamaru. She wore the same expression that Shikamaru was, and even her hair style looked almost the same.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Hushed whispers and giggles erupted softly in the class as Iruka spoke his name. Hinata frowned, greatly confused and puzzled. It was even louder than the explosition of the class taunting her, but Hinata didn't think that they were teasing the boy Iruka just called.

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Sasuke's right here!" Sakura giggled happily, grabbing the arm of the raven-haired boy next to her, who didn't seem very pleased with all of the giggling in the class and the fact that Sakura was holding eagerly onto his arm. "Sitting next to _me_!" Sakura giggled again.

Many girls glared daggers at Sakura, clenching their fists tightly, as if resisting all temptations to run over and strangle her. Iruka seemed a little nervous of that fact.

"Uhh...thank you...Sakura." Iruka forced a smile, checking the box beside Sasuke's name on the yellow paper.

Hinata then realized that the boy was Sasuke Uchiha, the most popular and desirable boy. He had went to her elementary and middle school. Why hadn't she realized who he was sooner?

Everyone knew that Sasuke Uchiha was the idol for boys and eye candy for girls. She didn't see what was so wonderful about him, though.

Was it just because of his looks?

Hinata glanced over at him, but she could only see his back. In any case, she could still see that hisonyx hair spiked out in a way that made girls sigh to look at it. He was also wearing a short-sleeved, blue shirt that showed off his milky arms, and white shorts that revealed the flawless skin girls loved from his knees to his ankles.

Hinata didn't think he was that attractive. He did have many charming qualities, but Hinata didn't think that was a decent reason to fall at his feet.

He was very cold and serious. He didn't have any friends. It wasn't that people didn't like him, but it was the other way around. Girls always tried to ask him out for a date, but he rejected them. However, it didn't stop them from tackling him once in a while and gazing dreamily at him whenever he was in sight.

Boys tried to make friends with him, hoping some of his popularity and ability to attract girls would rub off on them. However, Sasuke just ignored them, just like he disregarded his female admirers.

Even as a popular boy, Sasuke Uchiha didn't like the respect people gave him. He just didn't like anyone.

Sasuke merely shrugged off Sakura's arm, placing his elbows on his desk and overlapping one hand over the other to place his chin upon his the back of his hands. The girls in the class sighed dreamily, staring at the school heartthrob.

Only one person didn't seem to happy about having Sasuke in this class. Hinata could see Naruto making a face and glaring at Sasuke.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Yep, you're here, all right." Iruka grinned and checked Naruto off his list. Then the brunette teacher began to talk again, supposedly about what they would do for the rest of the period, but Hinata wasn't listening. She was too busy staring over at Naruto Uzumaki, a small smile spreading across her milky face.

_Naruto..._

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

When the bell rang, the class piled out hurriedly. Hinata rushed out, clutching her books to her chest tightly as she tried to move through the crowd of students. Suddenly, a harsh impact collided into her, causing her books to fly out of her arms. A small gasp of surprise escaped her lips as she fell onto the ground, landing on her knees and palms. She looked up, only to meet the green eyes of a certain pink-haired girl. Hinata's heart sank with dread and fear as she bit her lower lip slightly.

"Watch where you're going, ugly!" Sakura snarled, a cruel smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Oh, I forgot - your eyes are pale, so you must be blind! My goodness, shouldn't you be in the hospital for an eye surgery? And while you're at it - schedule for a plastic surgery too!"

Techinally, Hinata's eyes weren't pale - they were light lavender. And she wasn't that bad looking. Most people even thought she was cute. Or maybe that was only when she was younger. Either way, Sakura's insults weren't true, but it still hurt Hinata like a ton of bricks.

The hallway erupted with laughter and jeers at the fallen Hyuuga, nonetheless, and once more, tears began to form in Hinata's eyes. She brought her hand to her mouth to snifle a sob, while tears trickled down her face again.

"Hey! Cut it out, will ya! I thought I told you guys to leave her alone, you jerks!"

Hinata swallowed her tears and her heart rose with mild happiness as the familiar voice of the blonde boy rang smoothly in her ears. She looked up to see Naruto standing before her, his arms crossed over his chest defiantly as he glared through squinted eyes at everyone in the hallway.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" Sakura frowned, crossing her own arms over her chest. "Why bother defending for the Hyuuga freak?" Sakura's green eyes regarded the trembling Hyuuga coldly.

"I thought Iruka-sensei told you guys to leave Hinata alone!" Naruto shot back in a dangerously low voice, squinting his eyes in fury.

Ignoring his angry remark, Sakura checked the pink watch that was wrapped around her thin wrist. "Oh my goodness, the bell's going to ring soon! You should get going, Naruto, unless you want to be late for class. And you really can't afford to get as much tardy slips as you got back in middle school, can you?"

Naruto stiffened, clenching his fists slightly. Hinata swallowed, her eyes shifting frantically from Sakura to Naruto. She watched him, biting her lips as she saw the troubled look in his eyes. Hinata's eyes dropped to the solid ground as she poked her fingers together.

"N-Naruto..." Hinata stammered, fiddling with her fingers nervously. "We really should...b-be...heading to our...n-next c-class..."

Sakura smiled. "For once, Hyuuga freak, you're right." Flipping her long, cotton candy locks, she walked away graciously. She called over her shoulder, "Later, losers!"

Naruto watched her go, while Hinata quickly picked up her books, her teeth digging into her lip slightly. After quickly placing her books in her locker, Hinata looked at Naruto's solemn expression, slightly shifting the strap of her backpack.

"N-Naruto..." she whispered softly.

Naruto turned to her, a bright grin immediately wiping off the scowl off his face. "Well, I guess I should be going, Hinata. By the way, what's your next class?"

"Umm..." Hinata fiddled with her fingers nervously. "P-Physical...e-education w-with G-G-Gai-sensei..." Hinata smiled weakly, feeling the heat rush into her pale cheeks.

"Oh, really?" Naruto grinned happily. "Me too! Wanna walk to class together, Hinata?"

A pink tinge crept into Hinata's cheeks as her fingers began to fiddle at a more frantic rate. "U-Um...o-o-okay..." she stammered shyly.

"Great!" Naruto pulled back the sleeve of his orange jacket to check his blue watch. "We're gonna have to hurry. There's only about a minute and a half to get to class! Let's go, Hinata!"

Naruto's hand shot out to grab her wrist as he rushed to their next class, dragging her along as he went. Hinata could barely surpress her blush and timid smile at the feeling of Naruto's warm hand grasping her wrist. Her shy, eyes of light lavendar focused on the back of Naruto's head, relishing in the way his silky, blonde hair swayed gracefully. She smiled.

Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Dude, I don't even own my own Ipod. T.T 

A/N. Wow! 24 reviews! Squee! I'm so happy! x33 Much thanks for your reviews, guys! I appreciated them very mucho! x333

Yes, there is Inner Sakura in here. O.o I don't see any reason why there SHOULDN'T be...well, Inner Sakura is...inside Sakura, so no one will know what she's saying to herself. :)

Okay, I know Naruto probably wouldn't be smart enough to be in Pre-Calculus...but well, I just put him in that class so he'd be with Hinata. It'd kinda be like the scene with the Chuunin Exams, when Hinata tells Naruto to copy off her test...well, you'll just have to see! x3

Special shout-out to **Reikotsu**! Thanks for the humor ideas! x3

I'm kinda co-authoring with **Reikotsu**...not really, though. I'm still writing, it's still my crappy style and stuff, but she gives me all of these cool, humorous ideas! So thanks for the ideas, **Rei**! x33

I know this chapter was kinda pointless, but I guess this chapter was supposed to fill in the emptiness until Hinata and Sasuke start liking each other. There's mild humor in this chapter too! x3 And...dun dun! Sasuke and Hinata encounter! O.O

Reviews! Ba-da-ba-ba-bah! I'm loving them! -McDonald's music- x333

**xXxXxXxXx**

Just as Naruto and Hinata rushed frantically through the door of the gym, the bell shrieked shrilly, announcing the start of second period. Everyone stared around, puzzled. There was no teacher.

Whispers erupted softly. Naruto turned to Hinata, frowning. "Where's the teacher around here? Is he ditching this class or something?" Naruto squinted his eyes in confusion, peering around the gym.

Hinata didn't answer, blushing a bit as she gazed at the blonde boy shyly.

"Hinata."

Hinata turned to meet the source of the voice, her eyes widening slightly before narrowing back to their orignal size. She smiled weakly.

"H-Hello, N-Neji."

Her cousin smiled a bit. "How are you doing so far?" Neji asked questioningly.

Hinata lowered her eyes. "U-Uh..." she stammered softly, not wanting to admit that she was being picked on again. A sad frown marred her face as she averted her cousin's eyes.

Neji's smile faded, his eyes hardening. He seemed to have read her mind. "Have people been taunting you again?" Neji demanded, his piercing, bleached eyes boring stonily into his little cousin.

Hinata averted his eyes, clasping her hands before her nervously as she bit her lower lip. Neji's eyes softened slightly at her sorrowful stance.

"Hinata..." Neji turned away, seemingly awkward, as if he didn't know how to comfort her. "...If you are ever taunted again, you can tell me. I'll deal with whoever dares to mess with the Hyuuga family."

Hinata smiled weakly. "O-Okay..." Hinata responded quietly, touched by her cousin's concern for her. "T-Thank you, Neji...but you shouldn't go through so much trouble for me. I-I'll try to stand up for myself..."

A small, warm smile crept onto Neji's lips as he gazed at her with pride. Hinata smiled back, turning away to look at Naruto again.

Naruto looked around, scanning the gym intently through slitted eyes. Suddenly, he made a face. Hinata glanced in the direction that he looking at, and immediately realized what was troubling him. Sasuke Uchiha was in this class as well.

The sullen teenager jammed his hands into his pockets, scanning the room with disinterest. Black orbs collided solemnly with blue eyes, hardening. Their eyes narrowed in distaste as they eyed each other coldly before turning away, as if they couldn't stand looking at one another.

Were Sasuke and Naruto rivals? Hinata frowned slightly.

"Hey, Hinata..." Naruto suddenly frowned deeply. "Gai-sensei...Why does that name ring a bell?"

Naruto frowned again, squinting his eyes to slits as he pondered. Naruto's head shot up abruptly, slightly startling Hinata. His sapphire blue eyes widened in dismay and horror. "It can't be! Gai-sensei...h-he -"

"Good morning, my youthful students!"

Heads turned and startled eyes were wide as they focused on the source of the noise. There stood a rather familiar man dressed in a green jumpsuit, standing beside a younger version of himself.

"It is a pleasure to see you all looking so wonderfully youthful!" The man's white teeth glinted with a sparkle that blinded everyone as he grinned happily.

Jaws dropped as the entire class gaped and stared in horrified astonishment. The man looked absolutely hideous! He had a bowl-shaped head and horrifying onyx hair that was shaped just like the inside of a coconut! But on top of that, he had enormous eyebrows that sagged over his piercing black eyes!

And what was up with his dorky outfit? He wore green jumpsuit that seemed slightly oversized, along with sagging orange legwarmers.

The boy next to him was an exact replica of him, but he was a lot younger. He seemed to be very exhausted, as if he had run around the entire school several times, but he grinned cheerfully as he stood next to the man.

"Y-You!" Naruto pointed a slightly shaking finger at the man. "You're Gai-sensei...Gai-sensei from Suna Middle School!"

Gasps erupted from the students who attended Suna Middle School, while the others who didn't know Gai stared and gaped in horror.

This cheerful, hideous man was their teacher? Gah! What cruelty was this? What had they done to make the goddesses above hate them so?

Gai laughed heartily, mistaking their gasps of terror as gasps of delight. "How right you are, my youthful pupil!" He grinned again, his teeth sparkling radiantly. "I am indeed Maito Gai, the youthfully spectacular man who had once taught at Suna Middle School!"

"What are you doing here then?" Naruto squinted his eyes angrily as he continued to point accusingly at Gai.

Gai's smile faded as he sighed, crestfallen. "I was fired..." Gai said wistfully, his shoulders sagging with sadness. "Apparently, parents came to complain to the school because their kids were getting sick from physical education. I tried to tell them that I was just trying to mantain their healthiness and youthfulness, but they didn't listen."

A dejected sigh escaped his lips as a tear of sadness sprung into each of his eyes.

A golden eyebrow shot up as Naruto crossed his arms, peering at Gai through slitted eyes. How heartbreaking...

Gai lit up again, the tears in his eyes vanishing as he grinned, striking a thumbs up pose. "And here I am, teaching physical education at Konoha High!"

Everyone groaned. Gai beamed, thinking their groans were sighs of happiness. Gai looked around, studying his students.

"I see familiar faces that belong to my former youthful students! Oh, Neji!" Gai waved happily at Neji, who wasn't too happy that all eyes were turning towards him. "My prized pupil! I see youth is faring you well today!"

Neji crossed his arms, scowling as he looked away, aware of everyone's attention. Tenten frowned, a bit irked that Gai wasn't acknowledging her. She was, after all, one of his favorite students back at Suna Middle School, along with Neji Hyuuga and Rock Lee. But then again...the idea of Gai praising how youthful she looked didn't appeal to Tenten.

"Gai-sensei!" the boy beside Gai gasped sadly. "I-I thought I was your prized pupil!" Tears streamed down his face as he gazed up at his tall sensei sadly.

"_LEE_!" Everyone jumped, startled at his loud tone. Gai pointed an accusing finger at Lee, towering over the short boy, who was shaking under his sensei's fierce gaze. "You know you are not allowed to interrupt me! Get down and give me 300 push-ups!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee cried obediently, quickly getting down into a push-up stance and doing push-ups asquickly and effeciently as he could.

"If I can not do 300 push-ups, I shall run around the school 500 times, Gai-sensei!" Lee declared, huffing and panting as a tear sprang into his eyes, marking his sincerity.

"Yes, Lee! You must work hard to attain your youthfulness!" Gai beamed, tears of joy running down his face.

Everyone twitched, exchanging looks. Gai turned back to his class. "My youthful students, we shall dress out and go outside to run laps!"

The class gaped and gasped in horror. Running laps on the first day of school! Was this man with thick erasers for eyebrows _insane?_

"B-But...but it's the first day of school!" Naruto protested. "We can't run 50 laps on the first day of school!" Naruto groaned to emphasize his point, remembering how many times he vomitted after running 50 laps everyday back at Suna Middle School.

Gai beamed. "Of course not! Since it is the first day of school, I shall cut down the original number of laps to 30!"

"_30?_"

"Yes! 30 laps! We shall go now and enjoy the lovely weather while we are still in the stage of our youth!"

The class groaned, but obediently followed him out of the gym. Gai grinned, calling over his shoulder, "We shall first fetch our wonderfully comfortable PE clothes!"

"Wonderfully comfortable?" Naruto snorted softly to Hinata, frowning deeply. "I highly doubt that..."

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

"What is up with these clothes?" Naruto complained, tugging angrily at his PE clothes in an attempt to pull the thick fabric away from his sticky skin. "Ugh!" Naruto groaned loudly.

Naruto wasn't the only one complaining. Almost everyone was whispering furiously as they complained about their uniform.

There was two kinds of PE uniforms - one for boys and one for girls. The jumpsuits were mini versions of the one Gai wore, which made everyone shudder to think about it.

For the boys, they wore green jumpsuits with high collars and long sleeves, which was not ideal for the sunny, hot weather. On top of that, they wore bright orange legwarmers that were actually pretty heavy upon their legs. The fabric of the clothing stuck to their moist skin, which was sweating frantically from the oh-so-lovely, stinking hot weather.

For the girls, their uniform was exactly the same as the boys', except their jumpsuits were bright pink and their leg warmers were green.

Gai was gone for the moment because he needed to attend some business, but before leaving, he declared that he would return as quickly as possible to continue their "youthful, delightful" day.

Hinata tried not to look uncomfortable or dismayed. Neji scowled, crossing his arms. "This is so pathetic..." Neji murmured. Tenten nodded in agreement, wondering how Lee could stand wearing this outfit all the time.

"Man, this sucks..." Shikamaru crossed his arms as well, frowning as he looked down at his green jumpsuit. "How troublesome..."

Meanwhile, Choji was trying to tug down his shirt over his large stomach. He tugged and tugged for minutes, but it simply refused to cover his belly. He sighed in defeat, his eyes trailing down to the ground. His eyes fell upon the loose shoelaces laying limply upon his sneakers, so he bent down to tie them.

_Rip!_

Choji twisted around, noticing a large tear in the back of his pants that exposed his bright pink boxers. "Oh crud..." Choji groaned softly. He had been hoping no one would notice that he wore pink underpants...

Temari was pretty pissed as well. "Not only is this stupid uniform uncomfortable," Temari muttered, trying her best not to scream bananas and choke Gai when he came back. "but the jumpsuit is pink!" Temari groaned. "Pink, I tell you! _Piiiink_!"

Sakura was fuming. "Stupid Bushy-Brows...why did he have to make us wear such stupid clothes?" she growled. "This uniform is_ so_ stupid! Pink and green _so_ do not go together! This lame jumpsuit is _so_ not in style!"

An enormous orb of fire engulfed the pink-haired girl as Inner Sakura raised her fists in anger, shrieking, "**Arggh! I'm gonna beat the living daylights out of Bushy Brows**!"

Sakura pouted angrily as she stared over at Sasuke, who was standing a short distance from her. Like everyone else, he didn't look very pleased in his uniform.

Not to mention that Sasuke _so_ did not look hot in the retarded jumpsuit! It covered up his flawless, womanly skin! Not to mention that he was sweating just as badly as everyone else was.

Well, he didn't look too bad, sweating like that...but still!

Sasuke Uchiha does _not_ look hot in the jumpsuit that is called clothing!

Lee skidded into the field, apparently finished with his 500 laps. "Yes! I have finished my laps at last!" He grinned happily and tears of happiness streamed down his face. He looked over at Sakura, who was standing motionless in an inferno of flames.

"Sakura!" Lee cried out joyously, not noticing that Sakura was in a pissed mood. Lee quickly strolled over to her, beaming. "How are you on this fine day?"

Sakura turned slowly, a shadow covering her eyes. A vein was trembling on the side of her head as she glared through slitted eyes at him. Great, it was Bushy-Brows Junior...

"I see that youth is faring you well, along with your fine forehead!"

"THAT'S IT!" Sakura screamed in rage, orbs of fire replacing her green eyes as she punched him, sending him flying a few yards distance away. Inner Sakura shook her fist after the shrieking Lee, screaming, "**That's what you get, Bushy Brows**!"

Lee landed in a crumpled heap, sizzling, right in front of Gai, who was walking towards his class. Gai gasped. "Lee! What peril has caused such a terrible thing?" Gai wailed hysterically, looking down at the beaten up Lee with horrified shock.

"G-Gai-sensei...!" Lee sobbed, tears streaming down his face as he struggled to get to his feet. "I-I-"

"Don't say anything more, Lee!" Tears trickled down their cheeks as they wrapped their arms around each other in a tight embrace, sobbing hysterically.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Neji scowled. "Those two are acting pathetic. What fools..." he muttered. Tenten sighed, nodding in agreement.

"What can you expect?" Tenten murmured. Neji nodded, crossing his arms.

When Gai and Lee were done sobbing and hugging, they let go of each other. Gai wiped the tears off his face. "My shining pupil, what has happened to make such a terrible thing befall on you while you are still in the early stage of your youth?"

"Forgive me, Gai-sensei! I know you're dreadfully ashamed of me for being guilty of such a horrible thing! I-I was only greeting the lovely maiden Sakura, Gai-sensei!" Lee explained through choked tears.

"But I must have offended her in such a way that she stuck me! FORGIVE ME, SAKURA! FORGIVE ME, GAI-SENSEI!" Lee clasped his hands together dramatically as he continued to sob uncontrollably.

"L-Lee! How horrible it must have been to experience such a dreadful thing during the early stage of your youth!"

Gai and Lee hugged yet again, sobbing dramatically. Everyone became greatly disturbed.

Gai let go of Lee, wiping off his tears. "Lee!" he scolded kindly. "For offending the wonderfully youthful Sakura, you shall run 500 laps around the track!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee immediately sprinted off and started running around the track while the other students stared, even more disturbed.

Gai turned to his students, beaming through dried tears. "My youthful students, on this fine day, we shall all run 45 laps!"

"45! You said 30 before!" Naruto protested.

"That's what I said! We shall all run 30 laps around the track!"

Neji narrowed his eyes. "Whatever..." he muttered, glancing around the rather enormous track, calculating exactly how long the 30 laps would be. He scowled as he watched Lee run as fast as Naruto would run to his favorite ramen bar, dust trailing behind him.

"2 laps around the track is one mile," Neji stated blankly, so quietly that few heard. "So we will be running 15 miles."

Neji's scowl deepened.

"How troublesome..." Shikamaru mumbled.

Choji frowned. "15 miles?" he repeated in disbelief. "I can't even walk from my house to my favorite food bar without getting tired..." His favorite food bar, for the record, was only just across the street.

Gai looked over at Neji, wondering why his prized pupil was scowling so. "Why the long face, Neji? Put a smile on! Frowning only puts a damper on your youthfulness!"

"2 laps around the track is one mile, so we will be running 15 miles," Neji repeated, louder this time so Gai would hear. "Why would I smile about that?"

"You are absolutely right, my prized pupil!" Gai beamed. "We are indeed running 15 miles! You truly are a genius, Neji! I'm proud!"

"Whatever..."

"For being such a genius, Neji," Gai continued happily, "you will run an extra 10 laps!" Gai beamed, a tear springing into each eye.

Neji's eye twitched. He just _had_ to open his big mouth...

"All right, my youthful students! When I blow my whistle, we shall start running 30 laps around the track!" Gai held up the whistle to his mouth and was about to blow when Naruto whined loudly.

"Why 30 laps? That's too much!"

Gai turned back and grinned widely, his teeth sparkling in the sunlight. "There can never be too much training for people in such a wonderful state of youth!"

With that, Gai blew his whistle and took off on his own. Everyone sighed, but immediately jogged after the energetic man.

Hinata looked back to see how many students were behind her, only to quickly look away as her eye caught the familiar pink hair.

"H-Hey!" someone huffed beside her. Hinata turned to smile shyly at Naruto, who was grinning back at her as he panted heavily.

"I think I'm going to throw up after all of this..." Naruto moaned. He immediately lit up, smiling widely. "Hey, Hinata, wanna run together?"

Hinata turned to hide a furious blush, but she managed a weak nod. Her blue hair flapped gracefully against her cheeks as she panted softly, running alongside Naruto.

"Okay! By the way, Hinata, can you keep track of how many laps we're running?"

Hinata nodded again, blushing.

Suddenly, dust swept past them swiftly. Lee was running ahead, lapping everyone ahead of him.

"Yes!" Lee cried joyfully. "I only need 350 more laps to go!" Immediately, he became a dot in the eyes of everyone around Hinata and Naruto.

Naruto gaped. "W-What the! Did Bushy Brows just lap us?"

**xXxXxXxXx**

**5 minutes later...**

Shikamaru was sighing loudly as he watched almost half of the class lap him once more. "Man, this sucks..." he mumbled. He grunted as someone knocked his shoulder. He turned, only to see Lee running steadily beside him.

"My apologies, Shikamaru!" Lee exclaimed. "Are you hurt?"

Before Shikamaru could answer, Lee continued, "Of course you are! I apologize! Getting struck by someone is most certainly not something that should happen to someone in the prime of their youth! I will make sure I never disturb you again!"

A tear sprang into his eye as he struck a thumbs up pose. Then he ran off, his feet collecting a pile of dust within the air. Shikamaru coughed, feeling the dust slap his face lightly. He scowled.

"This is so troublesome..." he muttered.

**xXxXxXx**

**10 minutes later...**

While almost everyone was on their 8th lap (except Gai, who was on his 50th lap, and Lee, who was on his 498th lap,) Choji was still on his 2nd lap. He skidded to a stop, panting heavily. He made a face as Lee happily passed him yet again, who was screaming, "1 more lap to go until my running session is complete!"

Choji tugged his shirt, trying to get it to cover his large belly, which was sagging like wet flour. A bunch of people lapped him, which made him sigh sadly.

"How do people run so fast? Maybe Ino was right. Maybe I _do_ have to cut down on the junk food..."

**xXxXxXx**

**15 minutes later...**

Hinata frowned, noticing that Naruto's face was turning a bit green. Naruto turned to her slowly. "H...H-How many more laps?" he croaked weakly.

"U-U-Um...about 15 m-more..."

Naruto groaned. As they jogged slowly towards the finish line, Lee rushed past them, skidding to a stop as he pumped his arms into the air triumphantly. "YES! VICTORY! I HAVE COMPLETED MY 500 LAPS!"

Hinata and Naruto continued to run, gasping for breath as sweat poured down their skin. Suddenly, a short boy zoomed past them, his strange black hair flapping in the breeze.

"I, Rock Lee, shall run an extra 700 laps, which I shall enjoy while I am still in the prime of my youth! Gai-sensei will be so proud of me!"

_Bushy Brows? WHAT THE HECK?_

Naruto's jaw dropped open as he watched Lee run off even more quickly than he himself would run to his favorite ramen bar when they were giving free samples of new flavors. "I've heard of insane weirdos," the blonde boy gasped, "but Bushy Brows takes the cake!"

**xXxXxXxXx**

**20 minutes later...**

Both Hinata and Naruto passed the finishing line at the same time, leaning down and placing their hands on their knees to mantain balance. They panted heavily, gasping as they gratefully gulped in fresh air. Naruto's face turned a sick shade of green and his cheeks puffed out as as he groaned softly, slapping his hand over his mouth.

Hinata turned away quickly at the dangerous sign, surveying the area. Less than half of the class was done, while the others were still running. In the distance, she could hear Gai graciously urge people on and Rock Lee yelling, "356 laps to go until I have completed my laps!"

There was nothing to do but wait for the class to finish, she supposed. Hinata sat beside Naruto, who still looked very ill. She looked at him, her eyes glistening with worry.

"N-N-Naruto...are you all right?"

"U-Ugh...y-yeah..." Naruto mumbled. His cheeks puffed out again, and he slapped his hand over his mouth once more. Hinata looked away as she heard his stomach coughing up his breakfast.

She wondered what could make him feel better. Water? Rest? Food?

She felt so helpless that it sickened her. A cold stab of guilt surged through her as she looked sympathetically at Naruto.

For the moment, she sat by his side, occasionally reassuring him shyly. Naruto had been there for her when she needed someone, so Hinata wanted to do the same.

**xXxXxXx**

"All right, my youthful students!" Gai beamed, tears of joy streaming down his face along with the sweat that escaped his sticky skin. "It is a great pain to declare that this wonderful session is over! But fear not, my young fellows! Tomorrow, we shall run even more, which we shall enjoy while we are in the height of our youth!"

Everyone groaned, walking away from Gai towards the locker rooms so they could change out of their PE uniforms. Naruto waved to Hinata before rushing off to the boys' locker room. Hinata blushed, turning to enter the girls' locker room. She walked past the first row of lockers, and the color drained from her face when she heard a familiar voice.

"This is so lame!" Sakura sighed loudly and angrily as she flipped her hair. "Does Bushy Brows know how long it took to blow-dry my hair and comb it? The wind totally ruined my hair! Not to mention that it took forever to make my nails look beautiful for Sasuke! There's dirt in my nails, and I'm sweating like a pig! Now Sasuke will never look at me, and it's all Bushy Brows' fault!" An angry growl escaped her lips as an inferno of fire engullfed Sakura.

Inner Sakura clenched her fists tightly and shouted, "**ARRRGH! LEMME AT 'IM**!"

Hinata gulped softly, keeping her head down and rushing to her own locker. Sakura was pretty angry now, so it was best not to be in her way.

Hinata changed quickly and hurried out of the girls' locker room. She brightened as she saw Naruto standing a short distance from her. She opened her mouth to call his name, but Naruto quickly turned, smiling widely.

"Hey, Hinata!" he greeted warmly. "Heh, you dress pretty fast!"

Hinata blushed and fiddled with her fingers.

"It's going to be break! Yes!" Naruto cried, punching the air triumphantly, grinning.

Hinata nodded, her cheeks warm from blushing furiously. Naruto looked at his watch. "Only half a minute to go...30 seconds...29..." Naruto mumbled to himself.

Hinata looked down at her hands shyly. Why was Naruto able to make her feel this way? Nervous...? Shy...? Uncomfortable, yet comfortable at the same time...? And most of all...warm?

"10...9...8..."

How? Hinata raised her eyes to study him intently. Was it because he was the only one who didn't despise her? But it seemed more than that. Much more.

"5...4...3..."

Naruto...he was the only one who actually looked at her instead of through her, like she counted. He made her feel like a person; special and appreciated. But most of all, he was the only one who showed her that kindness existed in this dark world of emptiness. There was a light in every darkness, and Naruto was that light.

"1...BREAK TIME!"

Indeed, the bell rung, slightly startling Hinata and disrupting her from her thoughts. Naruto looked at her, his blue eyes full of concern.

"You okay, Hinata?"

Hinata blushed, looking away timidly. "Y-Yes...I-I'm fine..."

Naruto smiled. "Let's go! The sun is killing me." He took off, with Hinata following behind, wearing a small smile she hadn't worn for the last few years.

xXxXxXx

"Hey, Hinata, what's your next class?" Naruto asked.

Hinata turned a brilliant shade of pink as her fingers raced frantically. "U-U-Um...Biology with H-Hatake K-K-Kakashi..." Hinata whispered softly, lowering her pearl eyes to the ground timidly.

"Hey, really? Awesome!" Naruto grinned. "Me too!"

"O-Oh...that's wonderful!" Hinata smiled happily. Naruto was in three of her classes! So far, anyway. This year wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"Can I see your schedule?" Naruto inquired. "I wonder how many more classes we have together!" Hinata's head quickly turned, making her hair fall against the side of her face to conceal her blush from view. Naruto actually wanted to be in the same classes as her! Joy spilled over Hinata like too much root beer in an ice cream float.

Hinata fished out her schedule and handed it to the blonde boy shakily. She continued fiddling with her fingers nervously as she gazed intently at him. Naruto, too lazy to look at the entire schedule, only scanned Hinata's info and the classes she'd take first semester, which read as follows:

**Name: Hyuuga Hinata**

**Grade: 9th**

**School: Konoha High**

**Birthdate: 12/27/91**

**First Semester**

**Period 1 - Umino Iruka - History - 110**

**Period 2 - Maito Gai - Physical Education - 303**

**Period 3 - Hatake Kakashi - Biology - 221**

**Period 4 - Jiraiya - English - 225**

**Period 5 - Morino Ibiki - Pre-Calculus - 119**

**Period 6 - Mitarashi Anko - Drama - 120**

"Awesome!" Naruto shouted again, beaming joyfully. "We have every class together! Isn't that great, Hinata?" Naruto handed back her schedule, chuckling happily.

"Y-Y-Yes..." Hinata felt her heart leap up to her throat. She swallowed it down, trying to calm her blissful heart.

A shrill cry from the bell announced the end of break, which made Hinata and Naruto hurriedly rush to their biology class. The hallway was crowded with students, squishing the two rather painfully. Hinata gasped softly as she was knocked down, falling to the floor on her hands and knees, just like before. She shut her eyes tightly and kept her head low, waiting for the jeers to start.

"I suggest you watch where you're going," an icy voice muttered.

Hinata slowly raised her head, surprised and startled. As her eyes locked onto the piercing, ebony eyes of the school heartthrob, her heart sank heavily. Sasuke Uchiha was staring down coldly at her, hands jammed into his pockets.

"Oh, it's you. The Hyuuga girl. Like I said, you should watch where you're going."

"Hey, it was an accident, Sasuke!" Naruto protested angrily, clenching his fists. "It was your fault, anyway! No need to get all hasty! Sheesh, you're such a jerk!"

Sasuke glared icily at him, narrowing his eyes. "Whatever." Sasuke's eyes rolled down to stare blankly at Hinata again, making her shiver slightly under his cold gaze.

Hinata swallowed. "I-I-I'm s-sorry..." she stammered, swallowing again.

"Sasuke! You're not hurt, are you?" a familiar voice floated into the hallway.

Hinata swallowed hard, her eyes widening slightly as her heart sank even deeper. Pale arms wrapped around Sasuke, and the owner of the voice pressed herself against Sasuke's back. A triumphant, joyful giggle escaped her lips as she smiled dreamily, pressing her cheek against Sasuke's hair. Sasuke grimaced.

"No, I'm not. And I'd prefer it if you get off me, Sakura..." Sasuke mumbled.

Sakura pouted, but released Sasuke reluctantly. Sakura glared down at Hinata, placing her hands on her hips as she made a face.

"Oh, it's you, Hyuuga freak. Watch where you're going so Sasuke doesn't have to put up with you! He doesn't have time for uncool losers like you!" Sakura turned eagerly towards Sasuke, a theatrical pout tugging on her lower lip.

"Sasuke, I can't find my next class! I'm so lost! I can't figure out where room 208 is! Can you help me, Sasuke?" Sakura sniffed dramatically, holding his arm tightly as her eyes shimmered with slight tears.

Sasuke took the schedule from her hand and scanned it briefly. "If it will make you leave me alone," Sasuke stated irritatedly, "then yes."

Sakura beamed happily. "Thank you, Sasuke! You're the best!" she practically screamed, tightening her deathlike grip on his arm.

Sasuke turned to stare coldly at her, throwing her schedule back at her cooly. "If you looked at the room numbers hard enough," Sasuke muttered smoothly, looking straight behind her, "you would realize that your room is right behind you."

Sakura turned, only to see the room number 208 in large, bold letters on the door. "Eh heh..." she giggled. "Thank you, Sasuke! You're the best!" Sakura giggled again, beaming happily.

"Yeah, whatever. I heard the first time." Sasuke paused. "Shouldn't you be heading to your class?"

Sakura giggled. "Don't worry, Sasuke, I won't be late! But it's nice to know you care!" Sakura hugged his arm joyfully.

Hinata noticed while all of this was going on, Naruto was staring straight at Sakura with a troubled, sad look in his eyes, despite the slightly bitter and angry frown he wore upon his face. What was wrong with Naruto? Hinata bit her lip in worry.

"Actually, I couldn't care less," Sasuke responded cooly. "But you should just get going."

"Okay, whatever you say, Sasuke!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and stared coldly at the pink-haired girl. "Why are you still holding my arm?"

Disgusted, Sasuke tore his arm away and glared at Sakura. "Why bother wasting your time flirting instead of focusing on other important things, like school?" He emphasized school icily, jamming his hands in his pockets.

It sickened him to know that girls would throw away everything just to win over someone who wouldn't be won over so easily. Sakura was actually very bright and smart, but she didn't put her best efforts in school. Instead, she put her efforts into winning over Sasuke, which irritated him greatly.

"But Sasuke...!" Sakura protested, holding her hand out to him as she watched his retreating back in dismay.

"Get going," Sasuke muttered irritatedly, "so you won't be late to class."

Naruto clenched his fist tightly, glaring at Sasuke angrily. He opened his mouth to yell at the arrogant Uchiha, but clamped his mouth shut, telling himself Sasuke wasn't worth it. Third period was almost starting, anyway.

Sakura watched Sasuke's retreating back, clearly upset. Nonetheless, her eyes still sparked with bitter determination. She whirled around to stare coldly at Hinata, who was fiddling with her fingers nervously.

"I can see why Sasuke's so annoyed and angry," Sakura retorted. "Who wouldn't be, being knocked over by a freak like you?"

Before Naruto and Hinata could react, Sakura quickly turned around, entering her classroom swiftly, her cotton candy locks whipping behind her as graciously as the branches on a cherry blossom tree during a windy day.

Hinata hung her head slightly low in dismay. She felt so angry and upset with herself.

It wasn't because of Sasuke, who knocked into her and offered no apology, and instead, critisized her.

It wasn't because of Sakura, who once again insulted her for absolutely no reason.

It was because Naruto was there. At that moment, Hinata realized that she didn't want Naruto to see her weak and vunlerable anymore. She wanted to be strong, like him. She didn't want him to defend her anymore. She wanted Naruto to think of her as something worth looking at.

And what did Naruto think? Did Naruto think she was a weak, little girl who needed someone to come to her defense, since she obviously couldn't defend herself? Did Naruto feel pity and sympathy for her instead of affection that friends feel for each other?

...Did Naruto think of her as a friend?

Hinata's hands dropped to her side. She sincerely hoped he did. He was the first person she had come to call a friend. She wished that she was his friend, like he was hers.

"Hinata?" Naruto's worried voice interrupted her thoughts. Hinata raised her eyes to meet his warm ones. "Don't listen to what Sakura says. It...well, it isn't true. Sasuke wasn't annoyed because he knocked into you. He's always annoyed!" Naruto crossed his arms in irritation before calming down.

"And...well, you're not a freak. It isn't true, so don't listen to what others say about you. Okay?" Naruto grinned widely, hoping that would cheer her up.

Hinata smiled softly. "T-T-Thank you...N-Naruto..." she whispered quietly, blushing slightly. She indeed did feel better. Hinata looked down at her hands, wishing there was a better way to thank Naruto.

"Let's go to our next class before we're late!" Naruto proclaimed, and together, they rushed across the hall to their third period class.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. 

A/N. YAHOO, BABY! SCHOOL'S OVER! x333 For now, anyway...but I'd rather not think about that...T.T

Anyway, another special shout-out to **Reikotsu** for helping me with such of the humor parts. x33

Read, enjoy, and review please. x3 You don't need to reminded, right? x333 But you better do so, anyway, and you'll get cookies! x3 And of course, a happy me will certainly update much faster if you do. x33

**xXxXxXx**

It had been five minutes since the bell rang and the teacher's seat was still empty.

"Man, what is it with teachers and being late?" Naruto complained as he fidgeted impatiently in his seat. He was resting his chin on his folded arms, staring with boredom at the front of the room. He sighed, squinting his eyes to narrow slits, which seemed to be a habit of his, Hinata realized.

"U-Uh, maybe Kakashi-sensei is..." Hinata started shyly, her tiny voice trailing off as she searched for a possible excuse for why their teacher would be late. She looked ahead timidly, relishing the way Naruto's blond hair spiked out delicately.

Rock Lee, who was sitting beside Hinata, offered, "Hmm...perhaps he could have forgotten his instruction materials and had to drive all the way back home to get them. Or...alas!" Lee's circular eyes widened with horrified dismay.

"What if Kakashi-sensei went to take a restroom break and had a heart attack in there?" Lee wailed dramatically, tears of worry springing into each of his eyes. "Having a heart attack is most certainly _not_ something that should happen to someone in the prime of their youth!"

A golden eyebrow shot up slightly as Naruto frowned at the overdramatic Lee. Whoever said this Kakashi guy was young? What if he was an old guy? That would probably explain why he was taking so long getting here!

"That's it!" Naruto cut in suddenly, jumping up from his seat and pointing an accusing finger at the door. Everyone's eyes widened at his outburst, nearly jumping out of their skin in surprise.

He got up from his seat and rushed toward the blackboard. Everyone watched him, puzzled and confused. Grabbing an eraser and a chair he proceeded to set up the ol' bucket-of-water-on-top-of-the-door trick.

Except this time, it was the newly improved Uzumaki-eraser-on-top-of-the-door trick.

"N-Naruto? Aren't you worried about getting in t-trouble?" Hinata asked nervously, fiddling with her fingers.

"Huh? Trouble? Nah! Besides, it's Kakashi-sensei's fault for being late," he grinned mischieviously before jumping down from the chair and returning to his seat.

Several of their classmates leaned forward eagerly, awaiting the arrival of their teacher and the possibility of entertainment.

"Naruto! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Lee scolded. "Getting struck by an eraser while you are anticipating to arrive to class with no trouble is most certainly _not_ something -"

"-that should happen to someone in the early stage of their youth," Naruto finished irritatedly, mimicking Lee's dramatic voice as he rolled his blue eyes. "Okay, I get it! Now shut up, Bushy Brows, this is going to be interesting!"

Just then the door slid open and a head poked in, but as said head did so, the eraser sitting on top of the door fell and hit the top of their teacher's head with a nearly silent plop.

Half the class erupted in laughter at the scene while the other half merely smirked or smiled in amusement. Hinata's fingers pressed together nervously, expecting their teacher to scold them and give them all detention.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei!" Lee cried. "I tried to stop him, but - "

"I can't believe you fell for it!" Naruto blurted, jumping out of his seat and laughing triumphantly as Hinata looked worriedly at him. He was most certainly going to get into trouble.

Others rolled their eyes at Naruto's outburst. What a dobe. He just gave himself away in the most idiotic way possible.

"Hm, how can I say this..." their teacher stated, looking thoughtfully at the blonde in front of him and turning his gaze to the rest of the class. "From my first impression of you guys... I hate you."

The class stopped abruptly, staring in confusion at their teacher's impassive tone. Kakashi stared dramatically at the class, and the students fidgeted nervously under his blank gaze. Hinata swallowed, waiting for him to give them all detention. Detention on the first day of school? As Lee would say, getting detention on the first day of school was most certainly _not_ something that should happen...oh, forget it. They were all going to get detention, regardless of how youthful everyone was.

"Just kidding!" Kakashi beamed, his one visible eye closing in cheerful amusement.

There was a series of twitches, eyebrow raising, and weird looks directed at Kakashi.

Gai was strange enough, but this guy was even stranger...if possible.

That was also when they noticed the mask their teacher was wearing. The blue mask he wore concealed the lower half of his face from view, while an indigo blue headband covered his right eye. All they could see was a narrow, pitch-black eye that was currently closed in bliss.

"Uh, Kakashi-sensei, why are you wearing a mask?" Ino Yamanaka, a tall, slender girl with blonde hair and azure blue eyes, spoke up from her seat nearest to the door.

Hinata looked over at Ino, quickly recognizing her from Suna Middle School. Even though Ino was popular, she wasn't snotty or mean. She was actually pretty nice and made friends easily. It was said that Ino and Sakura were once friends, but their friendship was destroyed.

"It's for keeping my students from getting distracted by my amazingly beautiful face during class," he stated matter-of-factly.

The class stared.

"Just kidding!" Kakashi smiled again, his eye shutting in blissful pleasure.

Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes. "HAH!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the silver-haired teacher. "I bet you're just hiding something utterly hideous behind that mask of yours!"

"What nonsense..." Kakashi gazed lazily at the boy in front of him. "And you are...?"

Naruto made a face before assuming a dramatic pose, squinting his eyes and pointing a finger at Kakashi as he stared up at the tall teacher from his short height. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to become -"

"Hm, Naruto, is it? Well, compared to the others, you're a little bit... weird." He gestured toward Naruto's empty seat. "Now have a seat so that I may take roll."

Naruto returned to his seat, fuming inwardly. This teacher reminded him a little too much of Sasuke with the calm and cool persona.

When Kakashi had finished with roll calling, he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, waiting patiently for the class's chatter to subside.

"I'm sure you know what the classroom expectations are so I won't need to elaborate on them," he said, whipping out a bright orange book from his bag. "So you are allowed to talk until the end of the period."

This announcement excited most of the class back into their loud chatter, but Naruto couldn't help but notice the bright orange book in Kakashi's hand.

It wasn't exactly unnoticeable.

**ICHA ICHA PARADISE** it read in big bold black letters on the cover. On the front cover of the book was a picture of a happy chibi man with a happy chibi woman. Kakashi seemed to be greatly engrossed in his book, chuckling occasionally and turning pages innocently.

Hinata peered at the orange book Kakashi held in his hand, but could not read the title from her distance. She frowned.

"Umm...Kakashi-sensei?" Ino spoke up again, squinting her clear eyes of blue as she tried to read the title of the book.

"Yes?" Kakashi said absentmindedly, his eyes never leaving his book.

"What are you reading?" Ino asked innocently, too far away to read the title on the orange book.

"Something only people such as myself would appreciate."

Ino's eye twitched slightly. "And that would be...?" she inquired, a bit impatient and annoyed.

"Something that you children are not capable of reading yet." Kakashi flipped a page, chuckling a bit and paying absolutely no attention to his curious and disgusted students.

"Children!" Naruto yelled in astonishment, pointing accusingly at Kakashi. "Hello! We're, like, 14! Just because you have gray hair already, that doesn't mean that we're children!"

"Actually, my hair is silver," Kakashi corrected, his eyes glued onto the book. "And I'm only 28. Now, please quit bothering me so I can devote my attention to reading my book."

"But Kakashi-sensei, _WHY_ are you reading _THAT_ in a _CLASSROOM_ of all places!" Naruto demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi as he scrunched up hiseyes in angry irritation.

"Because...I want to see what happens next."

Naruto made the annoyed face that had become his trademark. "That isn't a good reason!" he retorted.

"...Heheh!" Kakashi giggled, beaming at his book, completely ignoring Naruto as he turned the page yet again.

A vein started to pulse at Naruto's temple. Who the heck did this guy think he was? Tainting so many innocent minds around here...

Poor, innocent Hinata...

"U-Um..." Hinata stammered. "W-What exactly is K-Kakashi-sensei r-reading?" Hinata scooted closer, trying to read the title of the book.

"NO! DON'T DO IT, HINATA!" Lee cried dramatically, moving over slightly and slapping his hands over Hinata's eyes. "YOUR YOUTHFUL, PURE MIND SHALL BE FOREVER TAINTED!" Lee had long heard of Hinata's innocence from Neji, who was extremely over-protective of his cousin's "purity."

What would happen if Hinata were to be tainted by Kakashi's dirty little book?

A vision of Neji gentle-fisting Kakashi into the wall entered Lee's mind. Lee shuddered.

_Alas!_ A horrible thought came to Lee's mind. Lee shuddered again. What if...? What if Lee himself was also to blame for not protecting Hinata's innocence?

Another vision came to his mind. Except this time, he was the one being beaten by Neji.

"LEE! How could you just stand by and watch as Hinata is corrupted by that wretched Kakashi's book?" Neji would demand angrily, giving Lee's crippled corpse his famous glare before continuously stomping on his beaten body.

Tears streamed down Lee's face at the terrible thought. Alas! What a horrible way to end his life when it is still in the early stage of its youth!

"U-Um...Lee, i-it's a-all right..." Hinata stuttered.

"Hinata, I, Rock Lee, vow to protect your youthful, pure mind with my life!" Lee promised, a tear springing into each eye to mark his sincerity. And if he didn't...well, he'd have to be introduced to Neji's fist...

And that most certainly was _not _something that should happen...oh, forget it.

"U-Um..." Hinata smiled weakly, a bit awkward around this strange boy. "T-Thank you, Lee..."

Just as she spoke, the bell screamed loudly, announcing the end of third period. Kakashi didn't even react to the bell. His eyes were still glued onto his book as he continued to chuckle happily.

"About time!" Naruto muttered to himself, disgusted. "I was getting sick of looking at that perverted guy's perverted book..."

Lee pulled his hands away from Hinata's eyes, grinning at her and striking a thumbs up pose. "Hinata, you are forever safe under my watchful eyes! You need not worry!" A tear sprang into each eye before they vanished as Lee hurried out of the room.

Hinata and Naruto rushed out of their class, mildly fighting their way through the crowd of students. Naruto had made his way out of the herd of students in the hallway, and he looked back worriedly, seeing that Hinata was having trouble making her way through.

The blue-haired girl finally managed to escape the crowd, giving Naruto a weak smile. People were rushing alongside them, making it hard to get through. Hinata stayed close to Naruto, trying not to look troubled as she ignored the whispery insults that were exchanged and the mild pain that stung her skin as she was being squished. Suddenly, something solid crashed into her, making her fall to the ground as she gasped softly and dropped her books.

"Hinata! Are you okay?" Naruto cried. He looked at the one who bumped into her, and narrowed his eyes coldly. "You..."

Hinata glanced up, her heart sinking heavily as she swallowed hard, trying to avert the icy, piercing eyes of Sasuke Uchiha.

"What's your problem, crashing into Hinata like that?" Naruto spat, glaring at Sasuke.

Sasuke stared icily at Naruto, completely unaffected. "I did no such thing. It was the Hyuuga girl who crashed into me. Now, do us all a favor, loser, and hurry along so we don't have to put up with you."

"Grrr...!" Naruto growled. "You shut up, Sasuke!"

"Hey! Don't tell Sasuke to shut up!" Sakura's shrill voice floated into the hallway. Sakura, who suddenly appeared beside Sasuke, planted her hands on her hips as she glared angrily at Naruto.

"It's his fault for acting like a jerk!" Naruto protested.

"Don't call Sasuke a jerk!" Sakura slammed her fist onto Naruto's head.

"Ow!"

"Leave Sasuke alone!" Sakura shrieked viciously.

"B-But, Sakura...!" Naruto tried to protest, before Hinata quietly interuptted him.

"N-Naruto...we should go."

"Yeah! Listen to the Hyuuga freak, Narutard!" Sakura yelled violently, her green eyes shifting from Naruto to Hinata. "And you, Hyuuga freak! Quit crashing into Sasuke, you klutz! You're as bad as Narutard!"

"I-I..." Hinata stammered, swallowing as the color drained from her face. Her fingers pressed into each other as she averted Sakura's and Sasuke's eyes. "I-I'm s-sorry..."

"Hmph!" Sakura snorted, sticking her nose in the air shrilly.

"I've wasted enough time with you losers," Sasuke cut in coldly. "Get out of my way so I can get to my next class."

"Yeah! Get out of Sasuke's way, Narutard and Hyuuga freak!"

Sasuke's eyes regarded Sakura coldly. "I mean you too, Sakura," Sasuke said tonelessly. "Move."

The three obeyed, Naruto fuming angrily, Hinata swallowing with fear, and Sakura happily beaming as she blushed at Sasuke, clasping her hands dreamily.

"I don't have time for losers like you," Sasuke told them icily as he walked away. He paused to regard Hinata, "And you...can't you walk in a straight line without crashing into anyone?" Hinata swallowed yet again, trying to find the voice to apologize again, but Naruto cut in angrily.

"Hey! Hinata said she was sorry, even though it was clearly _your_ fault, Sasuke!" Naruto clenched his fists as he glared at Sasuke. But Sasuke didn't reply. He was already disappearing in the herd of students.

"Sasuke! I'll walk with you to class!" Sakura called, ignoring the two as she flounced through the hallway, in search of the black-haired boy.

Naruto watched her disappear before sighing softly and turning to smile softly at Hinata.

"Let's go, Hinata. Remember, don't listen to a word they say about you, because it isn't true," Naruto reminded, a bit more calm as he grinned cheerfully at Hinata.

Hinata smiled weakly. "O-Okay..." she stammered, feeling the color come back into her face. She blushed as she beamed shyly at Naruto.

Hinata and Naruto both headed to their next class. Little did they know that their next teacher would be the author of the dreaded perverted book...


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. 

A/N. So sorry for the rather late update! ;-;

Well, anyways, sorry if the last two chapters were annoying because they were similiar. It wasn't intentional, but still, sorry! x-x;;

Yep, Ino will play an important role (well, not that important) role in this story. Wheee! x333 Ino rocks. :P

Nope, sorry for you people out there who love fast romance, but Sasuke won't be hitting on Hinata anytime soon! xDDD

By the way, I need to know something. Should this story's second genre be drama or humor? Tell me what you think, yos. x33

Thanks to all of my reviewers! x333 I update because of you guys. x3 Cough up the reviews, people, and I'll cough up a faster update! Muhaha, you can not resist...x33

**xXxXxXxXx**

Naruto and Hinata both took the empty seats in the front row of the classroom. The bell rang just as they did so, and all eyes turned to the teacher, who was hunched over his desk, furiously writing on a piece of paper.

He looked rather old. He had sharp-edged, white hair that looked as if it hadn't been combed, several wrinkles on his face, and eyelids that sagged and drooped in exhaustion over his narrow eyes of onyx.

"Oh, gosh, finally! A teacher that is actually here early!" Naruto remarked, grinning in relief and satisfaction.

Their sensei did not respond, nor did he show any signs that he had even heard Naruto. He kept scribbling, and scribbling, and scribbling, his tongue slightly curling out from the corner of his mouth.

"I must not lose my train of thought...!" the old man muttered to himself. "I must get this down...!"

"Get what down, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto repeated, leaning forward in his seat as he attempted to get a close look at what their sensei was writing.

The old man's head finally snapped up, and he quickly slapped the papers face-down on his desk. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he managed to catch the words "hot" and "burning."

"Ahh, nothing!" Jiraiya said innocently, grinning sheepishly as he tried to wipe off the guilty look on his face.

Naruto's jaw hung open as he remembered the words "hot" and "burning." The first thing that came to mind...was...a bowl of ramen! A steaming, hot bowl of delicious, goody ramen! Naruto's mouth began to water at the yummy thought.

Then...alas! Remembering the word "burning," he gasped as a horrible thought came to his mind. Burning hot, delicious, yummy-licious ramen? NOOOOO! What kind of cruelty was this? Who would want to do such a horrible thing to such an innocent, delicious bowl of yummy noodly goodness?

"Sensei, how could you write about such things?" he wailed dramatically. He opened his mouth to object some more, but his sensei cut in hastily.

"Oh, it was just nothing!" he chuckled nervously, slipping the papers back into his briefcase. "I assure you, it was nothing!"

It was then that Naruto noticed a familiar bright orange book peeking out from underneath a pile of papers. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he slammed his hands unknowingly on his desk to lean forward in his seat.

"SENSEI!" Naruto shouted angrily, his loud outburst startling everyone in the classroom. "What are you doing with Kakashi-sensei's book?"

Jiraiya stared at him in bewilderment, trying to appear clueless and innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about..." Then it hit him.

Oh crud! he thought, his hand quickly reaching out the grab the book from underneath the pile of papers. Naruto pointed an accusing finger and squinted his eyes in fury.

Naruto practically shook the walls as he angrily yelled at his sensei, "Hey! That _is_ Kakashi-sensei's book! But what are _you _doing with it?"

"Kakashi must have been left it here by mistake!" was Jiraiya's excuse, waving his hands frantically, his book clenched in his fist, unforgotten as he tried to defend himself. "Besides, it's not as if I read such things...!"

"Yeah, you just write them," Ino commented sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Jiraiya laughed weakly. "Now, why would you suggest such a thing?" he chuckled nervously.

Everyone's eyes fell upon the bold, large letters on the book below the title. **Written by Jiraiya.**

Naruto raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Ahemm...then _why _is your name on the book?" Naruto demanded.

Jiraiya waved his hands defensively as he looked seriously at his students. "That Jiraiya isn't me! My name is spelled differently!" he objected. "The Jiraiya who wrote this terrible, offensive excuse for a book...his name is spelled J-I-R-A-I-Y-A, while my name is spelled J-I-R-I-Y-A."

"Hmmm...J-I-R-I-Y-A, eh?" A golden eyebrow shot up as Naruto glanced at the board suspiciously. "Then why is your name spelled like the guy who wrote the book?" Naruto pointed accusingly at the board. **JIRAIYA** was written in large, bold letters.

"No! I can explain!" Jiraiya protested, holding his hands up in defense as everyone glared at him suspiciously.

"What's to explain?" Ino retorted, slamming her palms onto her desk angrily as she stood up in fury. "That you're a pervert?" The majority of the girls in the class followed suit, banging their hands on their desks as they shot up from their seats, glaring at the cowering teacher.

"N-No! I'm not a pervert!"

"Oh, really?" Ino raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

"I'm not a pervert!" Jiraiya responded. He regained his composure and grinned heartily, clasping his hands dreamily. "I'm a SUPER PERVERT!" he blurted without thinking.

"So you _are_ a pervert!"

"No! I'm a SUPER PERVERT!" Jiraiya clarified nonchalantly, beaming.

"Same thing!" Ino shot back angrily, her hand curling into a fist.

"So you're that pervert that people talk about around here!" a brunette girl cut in furiously. "Are you the peeping tom that spied on me and my friends when we were bathing in the hot springs last month?"

Jiraiya's grin quickly faded as he gulped at the angry looks on the girls' faces.

"I-I-"

"And you're the guy who sneaked into the girls' bathroom last week at the movies!" another girl chimed in.

"I-I can explain!"

"You're the pervert who sneaked into the girls' changing room at the mall!" a blonde girl added angrily.

"W-W-Wait -"

"And you're the old geezer who hit on my mom a few days ago!" a short-haired girl screamed, slamming her fist onto her desk. "Do you have any idea what you did!"

"N-No, but - "

"My dad thought my mom was cheating on him! Do you want to be introduced to my fist?" The girl curled her hand into a fist and cracked her knuckles.

"N-NO!" Jiraiya cried. But Jiraiya tried to hold back saying, "But I'd like to be introduced to your hot mother's rear!"

"LET'S GET 'IM, GIRLS!" The girls in the class cracked their knuckles at the same time, growling.

"NOOO! I can explain!" Jiraiya cried again, waving his hands defensively as he cowered under their fierce gaze.

"That you're a super pervert who needs to be put out of his misery?" Ino snarled.

"Ye - I mean, no! I just needed to gather data! That is all!"

"That isn't a good reason! C'mon, girls, let's get 'im!" All of the girls caved in on Jiraiya, cracking their knuckles angrily as orbs of fire replaced their eyes.

_"NOOOOOOO!"_

**xXxXxXxXx**

"Eh...I can't help but feel sorry for Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto admitted, laughing a bit. "But hey, it was his fault for being such a pervert!"

A small giggle escaped Hinata's lips as she covered her mouth to snifle her laugh. Naruto chuckled again. He wondered if Jiraiya was paid a lot for his perverted books. He certainly needed a lot of money to pay off his hospital bills, and Naruto thought Jiraiya was too fond of women to sue the girls that beat the living daylights out of him.

"Hey, I'm gonna go save a table for us, okay?" Naruto smiled.

Hinata nodded shyly as she watched him rush off. She went to the lunch line, ignoring the stares of recognition and hushed whispers that came from many people. When she paid for her lunch, she balanced her tray of food, glancing around for Naruto. It wasn't hard to find him; she caught a flash of orange and yellow at the table nearby the door. She smiled, walking over to him.

When she sat down beside him, she noticed that he was looking really troubled. His chin was rested on his folded arms, and his face looked a bit pale. He was groaning, and Hinata was surprised to hear his stomach rumble.

"U-Uh, N-Naruto? Why aren't you getting lunch?"

Naruto slowly lifted his head to look at her, and a bright smile lit up his features. "Oh, hey, Hinata!" Naruto smiled weakly, trying to seem cheerful. "I just forgot my lunch money at home. I can go without lunch! No problem!" Naruto chuckled and grinned.

**xXxXxXxXx**

**5 minutes later...**

Hinata chewed a piece of apple, staring at Naruto with a concerned expression. He had been groaning for the last few minutes, his stomach growling as loud as a large door rolling open.

"A-Are you sure you don't need lunch, N-Naruto?" Hinata inquired timidly.

"Pretty sure." Naruto grinned. Suddenly, the smile on his face was wiped off, and he gasped._"Huh?"_

His eyes fell upon her tray of food, and Hinata's eyes followed the direction he was pointing his eyes towards. A steaming bowl of ramen.

"Ramen! Why didn't anyone tell me they were serving ramen today?" Naruto wailed, tears streaming down his face as he stared wistfully at the bowl of ramen on her tray.

Hinata looked at the bowl of ramen. She had been waiting for it to cool before eating it. But...now she wasn't so sure she wanted to eat it. She smiled a bit as she gazed over at Naruto shyly.

"N-Naruto...you can have my ramen."

_"Really?"_ Naruto's eyes popped out of his sockets. "A-Are you sure, Hinata?"

"Y-Yes."

"THANKS, HINATA!" Naruto quickly grabbed the bowl of ramen, grinning from ear to ear. "YOU'RE THE GREATEST!" To give up as something as precious as ramen...Naruto hurriedly wiped the tears off his face, beaming happily.

Hinata smiled as she watched Naruto devour his ramen as quickly as counting up to 5.

"Y-You can have the rest of my lunch, if you like..." Hinata offered timidly, pressing her fingers together as she blushed.

"Really? Aw, thanks, Hinata! You're the greatest!" Naruto repeated, grinning as he took Hinata's tray and placed it next to his ramen. He continued to slurp his ramen, smiling the way a child would smile when he recieved what he wanted for Christmas.

Suddenly, a sound like a siren wailed in the room as loudly as a mini bomb.

_"SASUKE!"_

Naruto and Hinata turned around, surprised and bewildered. There he was...Sasuke Uchiha, at the table behind them...surrounded by what seemed to be all of the girls in the school.

_"Sasuke, you're so cool!"_

_"Sasuuukeee!"_

_"Sasuke, can I sit with you?"_

_"Back off, girl, he's mine!"_

_"NO! SASUKE'S MINE!"_

_"MINE!"_

_"MINE!"_

"SHUT UP!" Everyone's eyes widened at the outburst, and all heads turned to the pink-haired girl who stood with her hands on her hips. "Can't you see that Sasuke wants to be left alone? You guys are so inconsiderate!" Sakura scolded angrily, her green eyes flashing.

All of the girls clasped their hands behind their back and shuffled their feet sheepishly, like the way a child would when their mother would scold them for eating the cookies she baked for a special occasion.

"Besides..." Sakura paused to smirk a bit as she lifted her arms and crossed them over her chest. "Sasuke's mine."

The guilty silence that had hung over the girls was immediately broken with angry outbursts.

_"NO, HE ISN'T!"_

_"SASUKE'S MINE!"_

_"MINE!"_

_"IN YOUR DREAMS, FOREHEAD GIRL!"_

_"SHUT UP!"_

_"SASUKE'S MIINE!"_

_"NO, HE'S NOT!"_

_"YES, HE IS!"_

_"SASUKE'S MINE!"_

_"WHO ASKED YOU?"_

_"SASUKE'S MINE, YOU HEAR? MIIIIINE!"_

Naruto rolled his eyes and slurped his ramen. "Stupid Sasuke-obsessed freaks..." he muttered, shoveling ramen into his mouth as he made a face.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called to Sasuke, her voice dripping of maple sugar as she giggled a bit. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Sasuke ignored her, eating his lunch solemnly.

"Pleeease, Sasuke?" Sakura begged, absentmindedly shoving away some girls who tried to tackle her.

"No."

"N-No?" Sakura repeated weakly, dejected.

"HA!" the girls taunted. "Sasuke rejected you, loser!"

Sakura hung her head in dismay, a raining thundercloud floating over her head and soaking her with its tears of rejection.

"Hey, hot stuff, you can go on a date with me!" Naruto piped up, finishing off his ramen and jumping from his seat to run over to Sakura. Hinata's eyes widened in shock and horror as she swallowed hard, trying to force the lump that had grown in her throat.

Sakura's depressed mood instantly changed. She glared at Naruto angrily, shaking her fist at him. "Go away, Narutard!"

"Aw, don't be like that, Sakura!" Naruto pouted.

"I said, GO AWAY, NARUTARD!" Sakura slammed her fist on his head, earning a loud "ow!" Naruto clutched his head and was shoved back by the crowd of girls, who were still arguing about who owned Sasuke. Naruto landed on his rear, still clutching his head and moaning in pain. Hinata's eyes widened even more as she rushed over to Naruto.

"N-Naruto! Are you okay?"

"Yeah! I'm fine!" Naruto grinned.

"You're so annoying, Naruto!" Sakura screamed over at him.

He looked over at Sakura and cupped his hand over his mouth. "I LOVE YOU TOO, SAKURA!" he called, seemingly joking.

Sakura's only response was a fierce glare that seemed to burn holes through him.

"Hey, it's the Hyuuga freak!" a girl passing by Hinata sneered. Her friend smirked too. "Her eyes are so hideous! Heh, and she wonders why guys don't like her!"

They both laughed, strolling away. Hinata bit the inside of her lip and stared at Naruto in shock. He didn't even seem like he heard them. It wasn't that she wanted him to stick up for her, but she was so used to it after all the times he defended her. Instead, he was staring dreamily over at...Haruno Sakura.

Naruto made his way through the mob of Sasuke's fangirls and stopped in front of Sakura and grinned again, speaking words Hinata couldn't hear over the sound of Sasuke's admirers.

Then it hit her. Naruto...Naruto liked Sakura.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

Ino Yamanaka sighed inwardly, strolling slowly as she munched on her apple. She was in a good mood. After all, she had put a certain pervert out of his misery.

She looked up at the sky and smiled. It was bright and sunny, the promise of a day of good cheer. The sunlight painted radiant highlights in her long hair of blonde, and made her azure eyes sparkle slightly.

Ino smiled sadly as she watched two girls picking flowers nearby and twisting them into a daisy chain. A painful memory flashed through her mind, but Ino shook her head to clear her mind of the flashback.

Suddenly, she caught sight of a lone figure sitting by herself against a tree. Ino chewed her apple, gazing curiously at the person. She was burying her face in her arms, which were rested on top of her knees. Highlights of ivory touched her short, blue hair softly.

It was then that Ino realized who this girl was. She was Hinata Hyuuga, the girl that was always targeted because of her shy and nervous persona, her unusual eyes of light lavendar, the way she dressed, or other things people considered flaws. Ino didn't approve of that, but she never got the chance to even talk to Hinata and get to know her. Well, maybe this was her chance.

Ino narrowed her eyes a bit as she tossed her unfinished apple in a nearby trashcan. She walked over towards the blue-haired girl and squatted before her. She smiled reassuringly.

"Hey, Hinata...What's wrong?"

Hinata slowly lifted her head and met Ino's eyes. Hinata hung her head a bit lower, just enough to conceal her eyes from view.

"My name is Yamanaka Ino," Ino tried again. "U-Uh...you're Hyuuga Hinata, right?" Duh, she told herself angrily. But she didn't know what else to say.

Hinata nodded silently. "U-Uh-huh..."

"What's the matter, Hinata? You look sad..." Ino whispered.

Hinata hung her head even lower and mumbled something under her breath.

"Huh? I can't hear you!" Ino said.

"M-My eyes..." Hinata whispered remorsefully, trying to conceal her eyes behind her long bangs.

Ino immediately figured it out. "Someone's been teasing you about your eyes, huh?" she asked softly, her eyes full of sympathy.

Hinata didn't speak. She only nodded, burying her face fully in her arms.

"Hinata..." Ino sighed a bit, shoving her hand into her pocket, feeling for the soft fabric that she had brought along today. She smiled faintly as she pulled out a long, ivory headband that slightly resembled the color of Hinata's eyes. Ino had considered wearing it sometime during the day, but she changed her mind.

"You shouldn't hide your eyes just because some jerks made fun of you about them. If you believe what they say, you'll lose self-esteem. You gotta have more confidence!"

A stab of remorse and pain pierced through Ino's heart as she remembered speaking about this very subject to another girl when she was younger. Ino forced the pain away and smiled as Hinata's head came from her arms, a glint of hope in her eyes.

Ino tied the headband around Hinata's head in such a way that her bangs lifted just enough so there was a clear view of Hinata's eyes. Ino smiled in satisfaction as she admired her work.

"There. You look a lot better!" Ino beamed as Hinata fingered the headband shyly, blushing a bit from Ino's compliment. "You can keep that headband, if you'd like, Hinata."

Hinata smiled as her eyes lowered to her hands. "U-Uh...thank you..." she whispered timidly, the graititude and happiness she felt evident in her tiny voice.

"You're welcome." And Ino meant it too, even though she was afraid that she would regret it someday. But Hinata wasn't the type to cause her the pain that had happened years ago. Ino trusted her not to. Ino smiled as she rose to her feet. Just as she did, the bell rang.

"Aw, man. Lunch's over," Ino frowned, crossing her arms. She looked down at Hinata. "By the way, what's your next class, Hinata?"

"Pre-calculus with I-Ibiki-sensei..." Hinata stood up, smiling shyly.

Ino's face brightened. "Really? Cool! That's my next class too!" Ino said happily.

"Hinataaaaaa!" a familiar voice called out loudly. Both Hinata and Ino turned to see Naruto rushing over to them with a grin on his face and a few bruises and bumps evdient upon his head.

"What are you doing out here? We should be getting to class!" Naruto noticed Ino and instantly made a face as he squinted his eyes at her in distaste. "Hey...aren't you Sakura's rival...that Sasuke-obsessed freak that follows Sasuke around everywhere?"

Ino glared at Naruto and crossed her arms. "For your information, Naruto," Ino huffed. "I don't like Sasuke..." Not anymore, she added to herself. "Aaand...who do you think you are to call me a Sasuke-obsessed freak?" Ino's hands curled into fists as she shot daggers at Naruto, who was giving her the same look.

"Because you are one, Ino-pig!"

Ino turned her back on Naruto and rolled her eyes, trying not to strangle him for calling her the nickname Sakura had given her, for the sake of the innocent eyes of Hinata. _Yeah, and Forehead Girl is a Naruto-obsessed freak_, she thought sarcastically.

"What are you doing, hanging around Hinata?" Ino demanded. "It's not like you're both in the same class...I mean, you? In Pre-Calculus? Come on!" Ino scoffed.

"Hey! What are you implying?" Naruto shouted angrily. "For your information, I am not as dumb as you think!"

"Of course not! You're even dumber than I think you are!"

"Hey! Take that back!"

"U-Uh..." Hinata mumbled, trying to lighten the tension between the two blondes. "W-We should really be heading to our next c-class..."

"Yeah, I would have sooner, if Ino-pig here wasn't starting a fight with me..." Naruto muttered under his breath, crossing his arms.

Ino's eyes popped out of her sockets as she yelled angrily at Naruto, "Excuse me?_ I_ started the fight? _You_ were the one who called me a Sasuke-obsessed freak! And since when did you become a guy clone of Forehead Girl and call me 'Ino-pig?'"

Hinata rushed to her next class, with Ino and Naruto close behind, bickering and arguing loudly. Hinata's heart leapt with joy as she ignored the stares that people sent her, and she smiled widely, staring straight ahead with confidence and pride. She had two friends so far...only two, but two very good friends.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. 

A/N. Over 100 reviews! -cries a bucketful of tears- I love you guys! x333 Keep those reviews coming! x33

Ermm...and yes, I just had to make Naruto want to become Hokage in this fic. o.o Ermm...I guess in this fic, Hokage would mean...like, the president or something. Eheh...x)

Keep reviewing, yos! I love you guys so much! x333 (Yes, I know you heard the first time, but blearghhh. xD)

**xXxXxXx**

"Whoaa...what's up with our teacher?" Naruto whispered to Hinata, gazing in tense awe at the man in front of the room. Hinata couldn't answer. All she could do was swallow occasionally as she stared nervously at Morino Ibiki, their math teacher.

There were long scars on his face, and they didn't look as if they had been caused from a cat's claws. A dark blue turban had been wrapped tightly around his head, and a pitch-black cloak was draped upon his broad body, making him seem mysteriously frightening. Furrows of a scowl was permanently etched between his eyes, and a deep frown marred his face. But what intimidated her most of all were those eyes. Those black eyes that reminded her of Sasuke's icy orbs, an endless tunnel of chilly darkness.

If she was frightened of this icy teacher, she wasn't alone. The entire class, instead of chattering, was silent, staring in nervous astonishment at their sensei, seemingly too scared to even breathe loudly, for fear of the consquences.

The bell rang loudly, shattering the empty silence with its shrill cry. After the bell's echo faded, Ibiki narrowed his eyes at his class and finally spoke.

"Since there are no empty seats in this classroom, I will assume everyone is present. Now, I shall move on so we can finish this. My name is Morino Ibiki, the Pre-Calculus teacher of this course. As many of you have noticed, there is a test on your desk."

The wide eyes and horrified whispers contradicted that. No one in the class had noticed the papers that had been face-down on their desks, and now, they were wondering the same thing as Naruto.

"We have a test on the first day of school?" Naruto blurted out. "What's up with that?"

Hinata glanced nervously at Naruto and tried to tell him to keep his voice down, but as soon as she saw Ibiki's eyes shift towards where they sat, she clamped her mouth shut and swallowed with fear.

"This is a test that will determine if you stay in this class or not," Ibiki explained, glancing solemnly from each terrified face to the other.

A droplet of sweat trickled down the back of Naruto's neck. "U-Uh..." Naruto stammered. Hinata stared at him in astonishment. She had never seen him so nervous and troubled. "W-What do you mean by that?"

"This test will cover what you will learn in Pre-Calculus. If you pass this exam, you will stay in this class. But if you fail," Ibiki paused dramatically, "you will automatically be sent back to Algebra 2."

Gasps and whispers erupted from the classroom as they stared wildly at Ibiki, as if he had just suggested that they run around the entire school 500 times.

"But most of us haven't even learned Pre-Calculus yet!" Naruto protested. "How can we pass a test that covers everything that we haven't learned?"

"If you keep interuptting me," Ibiki snapped icily, "you won't be able to understand anything, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut until I'm finished!" Naruto scowled angrily as he glared furiously at Ibiki, but he obediently shut his mouth.

"Anyone caught cheating will automatically fail and be sent back to Algebra 2, as well as detention for an entire week."

Everyone shifted nervously in their seats as he continued.

"There will be 19 questions on this exam, which will last one hour. After the hour is up, I will write the 20th question on the board."

Naruto opened his mouth to ask, "What 20th question?" but clamped his mouth shut at the icy stare Ibiki shot him. He pursed his lips nervously and sank into his seat.

"We've wasted enough time. You will begin your tests..." His onyx eyes flickered to the ticking clock. "...now."

Hinata skimmed her test briefly and her heart stopped its frantic beat. Perfect. She had learned this last summer because her parents had hired a tutor for her. She could answer these questions smoothly. But what about the 20th question?

Hinata shook her head. No matter. She'd just have to hope the 20th question wouldn't be too hard. But she wasn't concerned about herself. She was more concerned about Naruto.

She glanced over at Ibiki, who wasn't looking over at their direction at the moment. She lowered her voice as quietly as she could, yet loudly enough so Naruto could hear.

"N-Naruto...you'll do all right on this exam, won't you?" she murmured worriedly.

Naruto grinned triumphantly. "Hey, this will be a piece of cake! No problem!" he whispered back.

Hinata blushed and smiled weakly. Naruto struck a quick thumbs up pose before looking at his paper and turning over his test. He read the problem quickly. No problem! This is gonna be a piece of cake! he repeated to reassure himself.

_1. A radioactive isotope has a half-life of 450 years. Find how long it will take a sample of the isotope to decrease from 6 mg to 2 mg._

_Find how long it will take for what to what?_ Naruto thought in bewilderment, his eyes wide. _I'm busted..._Naruto gulped to himself.

**xXxXxXxXx**

Hinata wrote the answer for the 19th question and sighed inwardly with relief. She was certain she got a passing grade. She glanced at the clock. It had been only 35 minutes.

Her eyes shifted to the spot where the 20th question was supposed to be written, reading as follows:

**_This question will be revealed when the hour is up. In the meantime, if you have extra time, check over your answers until the hour is up. _**

Hinata sighed inwardly. Well, she'd just have to check over her answers and wait for the rest of the hour to pass by.

"Kinuta Dosu! You fail!"

Hinata's eyes widened in shock. She followed the direction of Ibiki's eyes. A boy sitting near Naruto stared at Ibiki with horror, who was staring icily at him with his trademark frown.

"But...-"

"Leave. I thought I made it clear that there would be no cheating."

Dosu cursed under his breath and stormed out of the room.

"You too, Abumi Zaku. Leave this instant."

A spiky-haired boy sitting next to the empty seat that had been previously occupied by Dosu cursed under his breath as well as he left the classroom.

"To the remaining students, continue your test until the hour is up," Ibiki addressed grimly.

Naruto gulped. He placed his head in his palms, moaning softly again.

Hinata bit the inside of her lip as she gazed over worriedly at him. She didn't blame him for being so frusterated and troubled. She was certain very few in the class would pass this exam. She glanced over at Ibiki, who was at his desk, writing something in his agenda.

Hinata smiled sympathetically as she stared over at Naruto, tints of pink creeping into her cheeks. "N-Naruto..." she murmured softly. "I-If you're having trouble, y-you can look at my test..."

Ino's head snapped towards Hinata as quickly as a pebble would be flung from a slingshot. _"What?"_ she whispered loudly, loudly enough to make some people stare, but not loudly enough for Ibiki to hear. Ino caught the puzzled glances from her classmates, and lowered her voice.

"But...Ibiki-sensei told us..." Ino murmured frantically, shooting a nervous look at Ibiki, who was still writing something in his agenda. "...you'll fail if he catches you two cheating..."

"I'm not worried..." Hinata reassured softly, although the furious pulse of her heart contradicted her words. She tilted her head ever so slightly so she could look at Naruto. "Naruto...you can copy all of my answers..."

Naruto stared at Hinata in astonishment and stun, his blue eyes wide. _Hinata is offering to let me look at her test...even knowing that she might get in trouble! Why is she doing this? _

"Hinata...for once, I have to admit, I think Ino's right..." Naruto murmured doubtfully.

_Ya think? Of course I'm right, you idiot! And you wonder why I think you're dumber than I think you are!_ Ino wanted to say, but she held her tongue. Anyway, she didn't want to risk catching Ibiki's attention. They'd all get in trouble if he caught them talking.

"Hinata, why are you offering to do this?" Naruto whispered. "You really shouldn't...I'd feel terrible if you got in trouble for helping me..."

Hinata swallowed hard as she noticed the concern in his voice, fiddling with her fingers nervously as she kept her eyes glued onto the paper on her desk.

"I-I-I..." Hinata swallowed again. It seemed as if her voice had been ripped out of her throat. "I-I..." She blushed and swallowed again.

She found herself raising her eyes to meet his. "I don't want you to fail and go back to Algebra 2, N-N-Naruto..." she managed to muster. "I want us...to stay in the same class...t-t-t-together..."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he gazed at Hinata in awe. He seemed to be digesting her words with a struggle, wondering if he should cheat off her paper or not. Finally, he smiled.

"Okay..." Naruto whispered. "Thanks, Hinata..."

_Hinata..._Ino's eyes softened as she watched Hinata quietly slip her paper under her arm towards Naruto. _I understand now..._

Naruto's eyes shifted from Hinata's paper to his own, and his hand shakily crept over the blank spot for the first question. Suddenly, his heart hammered in his throat as Ibiki's eyes suddenly drifted over to his direction, piercing right through him.

"I-I...can't..." Naruto stammered under his breath. Sweat trickled down his nape of his neck. Ibiki's eyes shifted to another direction, but Naruto couldn't shake off the creeps. He was sure Ibiki knew.

Naruto glanced back at Hinata and forced a smile. "Hinata...thanks...but I can't cheat." Naruto threw his head back slightly, proudly. "A future Hokage would never cheat!"

Hinata's eyes widened. She blushed as she focused her eyes upon her exam. Naruto was the most determined, persistent person she had ever known. It made her feel inspired. _Naruto..._

Naruto stared at his exam happily, pleased and satisfied with his short speech. Then his heart sank again. _I'm still gonna fail anyway..._he moped.

**xXxXxXx**

Before the hour was up, several more students had been caught cheating and sent out of the room. This didn't make Naruto feel any better. He stared at his blank exam in frusteration, his fingernails clawing into his head as he tried to answer them.

"The hour is up. Please stop what you are doing and focus up here." Ibiki waited until all eyes were on him.

"We will now start the 20th question. But there are some rules I must go over."

Everyone exchanged frustrated glances. More rules?

"The 20th question will be answered on a seperate sheet of paper, so I suggest you have a sheet of paper handy." There was a shuffle in the class as people scrambled to take out a sheet of paper or ask for one.

"If you answer the 20th question wrong," Ibiki continued smoothly, "you will also fail."

Everyone exchanged frustrated glances again. How could they pass this test when there was little chance of passing?

"Even if you answer the first 19 problems correctly, yet you answer the 20th question incorrectly, you will fail. However," Ibiki paused. Everyone exchanged stunned glances once more. There were more rules?

"You may choose to not answer the 20th question." Everyone breathed sighs of relief. "But if you fail this exam or choose not to answer the 20th question..." Ibiki narrowed his eyes.

"You will never have the chance to graduate high school!" Ibiki declared dramatically, looking everyone straight in the eye.

Everyone's eyes popped out of their sockets as gasps of shocked disbelief exploded within the room. Naruto opened his mouth to protest even more, but Ibiki interrupted him to explain further.

"Those that aren't confident can choose not to take the question," he continued smoothly, "and try again next year. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your identity is confirmed, you will be sent back to Algebra 2."

Naruto gritted his teeth. _If I take the question and fail it, I'll never gradutate high school! And my dream of becoming Hokage will never...ever come true! But if I don't take the question...I'll be sent back to Algebra 2! Both options are bad!_

Naruto watched in horrified dread as several of his classmates raised their hands shakily and were sent out of the classroom. He swallowed hard.

Hinata bit the inside of her lip and looked over at Naruto worriedly, her eyes softening with sadness. _Naruto..._

A part of her wanted Naruto to take the question so he could have a chance of staying in this class with her. But what if he failed it? Probably lots of people would. But that meant that Naruto would never graduate high school with her.

The other part of her wanted him to quit. He would have a chance of passing next year. It was better than staying in high school for his entire life. But what about his dream of being Hokage? She didn't want his dream to die...

Her eyes widened as Naruto shakily raised his hand, his shoulders trembling. _N-Naruto!_

Suddenly, Naruto slammed his palm onto his desk angrily. "Don't underestimate me!" he shouted accusingly at Ibiki, whose eyes slightly enlarged in surprise. "You think you can scare me? Well, you're wrong! I don't care if I don't ever graduate from high school! I'll still manage to become Hokage someday! I'm not going to be a coward and back down! I'll take the question, no matter what!"

Ibiki's eyes widened ever so slightly, but his expression remained stern.

"Are you sure?" Ibiki asked coldly. "Your life depends on this decision. Are you sure you want to take such a risk when you could just quit and try again next year?"

"No way, I never back down on my words!" Naruto shot back, a triumphant smile tugging on the corner of his lips. "A future Hokage would never back down! I will become Hokage someday!"

The worried looks that had been on everyone's faces before Naruto's outburst faded away. The class smiled in determination as they stared at Naruto respectfully.

Ino's eyes were slightly wide as she stared over at Naruto in awe. _This isn't the stupid Naruto I remember. But I guess it's just like him to do something like this. He's stupid, but he's got guts, I'll give him that..._Ino smiled.

Hinata beamed shyly, her eyes full of admiration. _Naruto..._

Ibiki scanned the class, surprised at the determined looks on everyone's faces._ What an interesting kid. Just by making a rather long speech, he inspired everyone to stay. _

He smiled grimly. "Good decisions. To everyone remaining..." he paused dramatically, eying everyone with piercing eyes.

Everyone gulped.

"...I congratulate you on passing the exam!"

_"HUH?"_ Eyes widened as mouths hung open in shock.

"But what about the 20th question?" Temari demanded from her seat closest to the corner of the room.

Ibiki grinned. Everyone stared, surprised at how less scary he looked when he smiled. "There was no 20th question. Those two choices were actually the 20th question. Those who chose to take it passed!"

"Then what were those first 19 questions for?" Temari inquired in bewilderment. "They had no point, did they?"

"The whole point of the 19 questions," Ibiki explained, "was to pressure you into cheating. Those of you who were strong-willed and determined enough wouldn't even think of that option. Those of you who were too frightened and scared of the consequences of failing wouldn't be allowed to learn any longer in my classroom. I don't tolerate such students, who don't even try to do their best."

"So what was the point of the 20th question?" Temari demanded.

"The point of the 20 question," Ibiki explained patiently, "was to pressure you into not taking the question. Likewise, I don't tolerate such students who don't try to do their best."

"Err...so what was the whole point of this exam, really?" Temari asked blankly, clearly confused as the rest of the class.

Ibiki smiled. "The whole point of this exam was to test how many of you were willing to try your best to stay in this class."

"But how could we even try our best at something we didn't even learn yet?" Kiba called out from his seat closest to the door.

"That's the entire purpose of this exam," Ibiki beamed. "It doesn't matter how much knowledge you already have, but how determined and persistent you are willing to become to obtain that knowledge. Those of you who didn't quit this exam because of your lack of knowledge for it are most certainly going to be successful in the future. I congratulate you all!"

Naruto gaped for a long time before his face broke into a grin that stretched from ear to ear. "ALL RIGHT! I PASSED! YEAH!" he cheered happily. Many people cheered along with him.

Hinata smiled, blushing as she glanced at Naruto with admiration. _Naruto...I'm glad..._

**xXxXxXx**

"Darn it, I'm gonna be late!" Her sneakers pounded against the ground as she rushed down the corridor. "Okay, what room number was it again?" She checked her schedule. She stared at the numberat her schedulein puzzlement. There was a smudge on the last digit, and she couldn't tell if it was 118 or 119. She squinted her eyes at the ugly mark and frowned.

It must be 118, she decided. "...Hm...118...right! It should be...somewhere 'round here...aha!" She found herself staring at a door marked 118. She frowned. What was all that noise coming from within? She pressed her ear to the door. She ruled out the idea of a radio turned up to full blast.

Well, duh, she told herself. She was late, so the kiddies must have gone in and started chattering since there was no teacher there.

She straightened her clothes smartly and fixed a toothy smile. Okay, she smirked to herself. If she was going to be late, she'd have to make a grand entrance!

She placed her hand on the doorknob...

**xXxXxXx**

Everyone congratulated one another and cheered triumphantly. Ibiki smiled proudly before his eyes narrowed and shifted elsewhere.

Suddenly...BAM!

The door flung open with a loud bang. The class watched in horrified confusion as smoke filled the front of the room.

"ALL RIGHT, KIDS, WHO'S READY FOR SOME DRAMA?"

A middle-aged woman with light purple hair swept her hand out against the banner that she had expertly attached from one side of the room to the other. Her lavendar eyes were glinting with satisfaction as she struck everyone silly with her strange entrance.

"Eh?" Naruto's eyes popped out of his sockets as his mouth hung open. _Who the heck is this lady?_

"I AM MITRUASHI ANKO!" Well, that answered his question. "EVERYONE, FOLLOW ME!"

Everyone stared with eyes as wide as dinner plates as their mouth dropped to the floor.

"Your classroom is a door down from mine." Ibiki peeked out from the corner of Anko's banner, staring at her in disapproval. "Wrong classroom and bad timing."

It was then Anko realized that she was early (for once!) And yet...she was in the wrong classroom! Doggoneit! This was the first time she was actually _early_, but she just had to make such an entrance in the _wrong_ classroom!

Anko blushed a furious shade of red as she made a face. "Ohhh...ahaha, w-well...I knew that!" she beamed, dropping the arm that she had been waving around when she was introducing herself.

Ino's eye twitched. _She's as dense as Naruto...I wonder if they're related..._

Anko surveyed the classroom suspiciously. "Hmm...that's a lot of students...Ibiki!" Anko glared at him. "You didn't make the test too easy this year, did you?"

"No, I didn't. It's just that there are quite a number of outstanding students this year."

Anko pursed her lips and shrugged ruefully. "They might be able to survive your class..." Anko grinned slyly at the classroom. "But they're gonna have it harder in my class..."

Everyone gulped under her toothy grin. She looked as if she were about to burst into maniacal laughter that villiains in cartoons do, but the bell rang.

"Everyone who has drama for 6th period, follow me!" Anko's voice swelled with pride as she smiled importantly. Her students obeyed obediently, following the strange teacher to their next class.

"Wheww..." Naruto muttered, grinning happily. "I still can't believe I passed the Pre-Calculus exam!" Naruto chuckled, throwing his arms behind his head.

"I can see why," Ino commented sarcastically, strolling alongside Hinata. "I can't believe it, either."

"Hey! Who asked you? And why are you following us? Are you a stalker or something?"

"Don't flatter yourself, pinhead. I have drama for 6th period, in case you haven't noticed! Obviously, you didn't, because you're such a dense idiot!"

"Hey! Take that back!"

Ino and Naruto began to argue once more. Hinata just smiled. She couldn't wait for drama class to start. She loved to act. She would sometimes act to an audience of teddy bears back at the Hyuuga mansion when she was young. But what was best about the anticipation of drama class was that Ino and Naruto would be there with Hinata.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. 

A/N. Wahh...I can see that many of you people aren't very pleased with some of my chapters, namely, chapter 3, 4, and 5, mainly because I "copied" from the manga/anime. T-T;;

Okayyy...sorryyy you guys don't like that. I do that lots of times because I like basing some events from my AU stories on the manga/anime. Well...don't worry, if you guys don't like it, I won't do it anymore. T-T

Well...I was thinking about editting the chapters that people complained about. I already editted chapter 5. Not really though, I just editted the quotes so the quotes won't exactly be like the anime/manga. Bleargh. T-T

Anyway, on with the story! x333 Review. 'Nuff said.

**xXxXxXx**

Anko immediately took roll call when the bell rang, and when she was finished, she looked up from her yellow sheet and stared at the class.

"Let's see..." Anko tapped her lower lip with her pen thoughtfully. "Well, I guess since you all chose this class, that means you have to have _some_ acting skills, right?"

Naruto looked at Rock Lee, who was nodding eagerly and striking a thumbs-up pose as a tear sprang into each eye. Naruto grimaced and made a face._ You don't need to ask Bushy Brows..._

Anko smiled cheerfully. "Well, we'll start off doing scenarios," Anko stated smoothly. "You kiddies won't have any problem with that, right?"

The class nodded mechanically.

"Okayyy!" Anko walked over to her desk, grabbed three paper bags, and strolled back to the front of the room. "In these three bags, I have seperately put in the type of scenario you will play, a boy's name, and a girl's name.

"Today, I will randomly pick a scenario, a boy's name, and a girl's name out of these bags. Each day, you'll be practicing different scenarios and with different partners. Any questions, kiddies?"

The class shook their heads mechanically.

"You suuuree?"

The class nodded mechanically.

"OKAYY!" Anko burst out, grinning happily. "GET READY FOR SOME DRAMA, FOLKS!"

The class raised their eyebrows and exchanged looks. Apparantly, she had too much sugar for breakfast.

Anko shoved her hand in the bag marked "Scenario." She quickly withdrew her hand, smoothing out the strip of paper to read it.

"The scenario is 'Arguing,'" Anko stated. "And the girl will be..." Anko put her hand in the girls' bag and pulled out a scrolled piece of paper. "...Yamanaka Ino. And the boy will be..."

Ino smiled. She was sure to get an easy A for the day. She was pretty good at arguing, especially if she was arguing with Sakura or Naruto. Wondering who she would be paired up with, Ino scanned the class boredly, drumming her fingers on her desk quietly.

"...Aburame Shino."

A golden eyebrow shot up as Ino stared over at the stoic boy, whose face was hidden behind his sunglasses and the high collar of his jacket. Shino? Shino, who never spoke to anyone(except maybe his pet bugs?) How was she suppose to argue with silent, emo Shino of all people? She might as well argue with a wall!

Now, if it was with Sakura (even though people of the same gender couldn't be paired up), or even Naruto, she could get an easy A. No problem. They'd argue up a storm, and Anko would have to knock them out to shut them up. But Shino?

Anko raised an eyebrow at them. "Erm...are you two kids gonna get up here or just sit there until Christmas?"

Ino and Shino slowly shuffled to the front of the room. They stared awkwardly at each other, unsure of how to start the scenario. Anko crossed her arms and, humming a bit to herself, looked from Ino to Shino and back to Ino again.

"Wellll?" she pressed rather impatiently.

"Ermm..." Ino pursed her lips nervously before her eyes lit up and a lightbulb clicked on in her head. She pointed accusingly at Shino. "Bugs are stupid!"

Well, that got his attention. His head shot up and he glared coldly at her through his sunglasses. "No, they aren't."

Ino frowned. She expected him to go bananas and yell over and over, "BUGS ARE NOT STUPID! THEY'RE COOL! COOL, I TELL YOU! COOOOL!" while marching around the room carrying pro-bug banners. Then again...this is Shino we're talking about.

"Yes, they are! They...erm...are so yucky!" Ino flapped her hands wildly to emphasize her point.

"No, they aren't."

"Bugs are annoying!"

"No, they aren't."

"Bugs are ugly!"

"No, they aren't."

"Bugs are scary!"

"No, they aren't."

Ino's eye twitched. "Bugs deserve to die painful deaths!"

"No, they don't."

"Yes, they do!"

"No, they don't." Ino made a face. How long could he keep this up?

"Yes, they do!"

"No, they - "

"YES, THEY DO! YES, THEY DO!" Ino was almost ready to tear her hair out and run over to Shino and grab him by the collar and...

"Ermm...okayyy...that's enough, kiddies. Sit down."

Shino calmly walked to his seat while Ino fumed as she stomped over to hers. Shikamaru looked at her, raising his eyebrow.

"That looked...troublesome," he remarked casually, sighing boredly.

Ino glared at him angrily. "It _was!_" Ino screeched.

"Okay, okay...sheesh, you don't have to get all hasty."

"What? I dare you to say that again, buddy!"

"It'd be a waste of breath to do so. Too troublesome."

"YOU KNOW WHAT? _YOU'RE _THE ONE WHO'S TROUBLESOME! ARGHH!"

Shikamaru sighed, backing slightly away from the pissed blonde, who was fuming so much that steam was coming from her ears. It was best not to talk to Ino when she was in her so-pissed-that-she-could-kill-you-in-an-instant mode.

Anko jammed her hand into the bag and withdrew her hand. "...The scenario will be saying 'I Love You.'"

The girls' eyes lit up as they giggled and smiled dreamily at Sasuke Uchiha, who was sitting in the front row, the lower half of his face buried in the back of his hands.

"The boy will be...Rock Lee."

The girls groaned inwardly. Glittery stars, floating hearts, the words "Marry me" and "I love you," and a kiss from Sasuke vanished from their minds dejectedly. They crossed their fingers, hoping they wouldn't be paired up with the bushy-eyebrowed weirdo.

"And the girl will be...Hikaru Tenten."

Tenten almost fell out of her seat. Her hazel eyes blinked over and over, while her mouth hung open slightly in horrror. She stared over dumbly at Lee. What the? Rock Lee? Saying 'I love you?' To her?

WHY LEE? IN OTHER WORDS...WHY NOT NEJI?

Was Neji even in this class? Tenten looked arond. Oh...he wasn't. Darn.

Grimly, she walked to the front of the room and faced Lee, who was looking wistfully at Sakura in the front row. With a dejected sigh, he turned to face Tenten, but a bright smile enlightened his features immediately.

"Love is a wonderful feeling we all must appreciate while we are still in the early stage of our youth! Tenten...do you believe in love at first sight?"

"Ermmm...no." Tenten raised an eyebrow. _He _better_ not use that pick-up line and reply, "Shall I walk by again?" _

Lately, Lee had been learning pick-up lines to impress Sakura from god knows where, probably from his idol, Gai. Tenten found it very annoying when Lee followed her everywhere, reciting pick-up lines and nagging her if it was a good pick-up line to use to impress his "lovely Sakura-flower."

Lee grew teary-eyed. "Why not?" Lee wailed dejectedly.

"Because..." Tenten racked her brain a bit before deciding on the quote Sakura used when Lee asked her to be his girlfriend. "...you're a weirdo."

Tears streamed down Lee's face. "But...but..." Lee dropped to the ground on his knees, clasping his hands before him as tears rolled down his cheeks. "BUT I LOVE YOU, TENTEN!"

"Ermm...right." _Yeah, yeah, tell it to someone who cares..._

"WHY, TENTEN? AM I NOT THE PERFECT MAN FOR YOU?" By this time, Lee was clinging onto Tenten, who was trying her best to maintain her temper.

_Can I say yes?_ "Umm...I don't know," Tenten grumbled irritatedly.

"BUT I LOVE YOU, TENTEN!"

"Uh...right. Me too," Tenten sighed. _As in...'I love myself too._'

"All right, good job, kiddies," Anko grinned weakly. "You can go back to your seats now."

Tenten sighed in relief, trying to walk to her seat with Lee still clinging onto her. Tenten stopped to make a face at Lee, who was still sobbing dramatically and sticking to her like glue. She planted her hands on her hips and sighed loudly.

"Lee...it's over now!" she whispered loudly, annoyed. "Geez, let go of me!"

"BUT I LOVE YOU, TENTEN - Oh, it is?" Lee looked around. "Oh...it is!" Lee blushed rather sheepishly.

Tenten rolled her eyes and took her seat, while Lee took his seat behind Sakura. The next scenario was 'Reuniting with a Long-Lost Friend,' and Shikamaru and Temari were paired up. They stood around awkwardly until Shikamaru finally managed to mumble a greeting, and Temari managed to do the same.

It kept going on like this for a while until only 4 students were left - Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata. Hinata crossed her fingers under her desk, knowing it was a silly thing to do, but she did so, anyway, hoping she would be paired up with Naruto.

"The next scenario will be...'Valentine's Day Scene.' And the girl will be..." Anko pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it. "...Haruno Sakura."

Sakura's eyes lit up as she glanced hopefully at Sasuke. _I hope I'm paired up with Sasuke!_ she thought dreamily, giggling slightly.

"And the boy will be..." Anko put her hand in the boys' bag and pulled one out. "...Uchiha Sasuke."

The girls looked ready to kill Sakura as she didn't bother to hide her grin, making her way to the front of the room. Meanwhile, most of the boys in the class that had crushes on Sakura, including Naruto, were moping enviously, wishing they had been the one to be paired up with Sakura.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was slowly getting out of his seat and walking to the front of the room, looking as if he'd rather deal with Gai than this.

Hinata, pleased that Naruto had not been chosen, looked over at Naruto and blushed, but the color drained from her face when she realized that he wasn't as happy as her. He was...staring at Sakura. Hinata sank into her seat and placed her head down in her arms, closing her eyes and trying to block out everything.

_What is this I'm feeling...?_ Hinata thought sadly.

Sakura occasionally giggled and stared dreamily at Sasuke, who was frowning and staring at the ground, looking as if he planned to murder Anko later.

_Yes! Sasuke and I are a couple!_ Sakura grinned happily. "**Mission accomplished, baby!**" Inner Sakura struck a two-thumbs up pose as she cackled. "**The next mission is...TO STEAL SASUKE'S FIRST KISS!**"

"Sasuke...all I want is for you to notice me..."

No kidding. Who didn't know that?

Sasuke watched blankly, hands jammed into his pocketsm as Sakura slowly made her way towards him, a dreamy look in her emerald green eyes.

"I would do...anything for you to like me back..." Sakura had stopped in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders, making Sasuke narrow his eyes and furrow his brow.

The boys in the class moped with jealousy, while the girls were trying to resist the temptation to wring her little neck and strangle her. Furious whispers broke out in the classroom.

_"Who does she think she is?"_

_"Eww! She's touching MY Sasuke!"_

_"YOUR Sasuke? What are you talking about? He's MINE."_

_"She's tainting MY Sasuke!"_

_"Sasuke's mine! Not yours! MINE!"_

_"NO, HE'S NOT!"_

Ignoring the angry glares the girls' shot her and the storm of whispers in the classroom, Sakura continued whispering, "...because I love you, Sasuke..."

Sakura stood on her tiptoes and slowly leaned towards his face. However, she stopped abruptly as she felt Sasuke's hands on her shoulders, tightening slightly.

"**Oh, my gosh...SASUKE'S TOUCHING ME!**" Inner Sakura howled with joy.

"Sakura..." Sasuke spoke slowly. He stared straight into her eyes. "I want you..."

Sakura was in heaven!

_Oh, my gosh...Sasuke wants me! I-I think I'm gonna faint!_ Sakura blushed. "**I** **KNEW YOU COULDN'T RESIST ME, SASUKE!**" Inner Sakura yelled triumphantly, punching the air with her fist.

"...to get the hell away from me."

Sasuke pushed her away roughly, and gasping, Sakura fell onto her rear. Sakura stared up at Sasuke in horror and gaped like a fish on the brink of death. She was back in hell again!

"REJECTED AGAIN!" The girls, apparantly part of the crowd that had made fun of Sakura during lunch, pointed at Sakura and laughed triumphantly.

A thundercloud rained upon Sakura's head, and lightning zapped overhead. "W-what? B-but Sasuke...isn't this a 'Valentine's Day' scenario?"

"Of course." Sasuke jammed his hands into his pockets cooly. "It's a 'Valentine's Day' scenario...and Anko-sensei never said anything about us getting together."

"B-but..." Sakura tried to protest.

"So, that means that I can reject you." Sasuke eyed her ruefully and his shoulders bobbed up slightly in a shrug.

"**MISSION FAILED!**" Inner Sakura yelled in disbelief, clasping her head in horror. "**NO WAY!**"

Sakura gave Anko a pleading look, a vein popping out from her temple. Anko chuckled nervously, backing away slightly.

"W-well...I suppose so. Not all lovey-dovey people get happy endings on Valentine's Day, y'know. Eh heh heh..." Anko backed away some more while Sakura went up in an inferno of flames.

"Ermm...good job, Sasuke, Sakura. Back to your seats, please, so the next two can perform their scenario."

Sakura reluctantly slouched back into her seat, while Sasuke took his seat next to her nonchalantly and placed his elbows on his desk and the lower half of his face into the back of his hands again.

_Ooooh, Sasuke's just playing hard to get! _Sakura thought happily. _Okay, Sasuke, I'll play along! _Sakura giggled.

"**SASUKE, I'LL MAKE YOU MINE!**" Inner Sakura vowed dreamily, cackling evilly.

"The next scenario will be...'Confessing Harbored Feelings.' The boy will be..." Anko paused to pull out the last slip of paper from the boys' bag. "Uzumaki Naruto. And the girl will be..." Anko pulled out a slip of paper from the girls' bag. "...Hyuuga Hinata."

Naruto almost got out of his seat when he noticed that Hinata was burying her face in her arms. "Uhh...Hinata?" he asked.

Hinata lifted her head slightly. "Y-Yes, Naruto?" she whispered softly.

"We're up next," he explained.

"O-O-Oh..." Hinata couldn't even blush anymore. She just felt so awful that she just wanted to go home and drift off to slumber, away from this strange, terrible pain.

Hinata followed Naruto to the front of the room and stared at the ground, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Uhh...what was the scenario about again?" Naruto turned to Anko.

"'Confessing Harbored Feelings.'"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, while Hinata felt the heat come back into her cheeks again. Even if Naruto liked someone else...at least he would be hers for a moment in this scenario!

...Hers?

Hinata blushed harder. What was she thinking?

"Uhh...Hinata?" Naruto asked, snapping her out of her dazed trance.

"Y-Yes?" she stammered shyly.

"Ermm...do you wanna start off the scenario?" Naruto scratched his head.

"U-U-Uh...I-I don't know..." Hinata played with her fingers nervously. "U-Uh...it's okay...you can go f-first..."

"Okay." Naruto blinked. Okay...how was he supposed to start off with?

His mind drifted back to when Sakura started off her scenario by saying "All I want is for you to notice me..."

Naruto scratched his head again, testing it out in his head. "All I want is for you to notice me, Hinata..." Nahh...too cheesy.

"I like you, Hinata"? Nahh...too plain and simple.

"I have a crush on you, Hinata"? Nahh...too cliché.

"I want you, Hinata"? _Whoaa..._not going there. It sounded a bit too possessive.

Naruto sighed inwardly. It would be easier to say if it were Sakura instead of Hinata. Obviously, he had a thing for her, so it'd be much more easier to confess his feelings. But how would he say it to Hinata?

Hinata sensed his discomfort and hesitance, but found it hard to say something. "A-Ah..." was the only thing that could be heard.

Naruto looked at her and smiled brightly. "Hey, why don't you start it off, Hinata? You're probably a better actor than me," he chuckled.

"A-Ah...o-okayy..." Hinata fiddled with her fingers. "N-Naruto...I-I..." she began softly, her heart hammering in her dry throat.

The bell rung, making everyone jump, startled. Hinata felt as though a huge burden had been lifted off her back. A part of her was relieved that she didn't make a fool of herself in front of Naruto. The other part of her was disappointed and angry at herself for letting her shyness get in the way of everything.

"All right, kiddies, school's over!" Anko grinned and waved her hand at the class. "Class is dismissed!"

**xXxXxXxXx**

Hinata hung her head, walking slowly down the sidewalk, clutching the strap of her backpack. She was a complete failure. She had always been able to perform in front of an audience of teddy bears back at home, and even Hanabi and Neji sometimes. But why was she so anxious and nervous around Naruto?

Naruto, she realized, was different. Something about him made her squish inside, and whenever he was around, butterflies would flutter in her stomach.

But, she thought sadly, it didn't matter, did it? He probably didn't see her as anything but a complete burden. He only had eyes for Sakura. Naruto liked Sakura...always had, always would.

"Hey, Hinata! Wait up!"

Hinata turned around, waiting for Ino and Naruto to catch up to her. Ino frowned in concern at her saddened expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Hinata shook her head. "Nothing..." Seeing the suspicous look in Ino's eyes, Hinata added quickly, "I-I'm just tired..."

Ino nodded sympathetically. "It's okay. You should go home and take a nap or something." Ino flashed a wide smile, which Hinata weakly returned.

Naruto squinted his eyes and leaned towards Hinata rather closely. The sudden close range made Hinata blush furiously, and she was too scared even to breathe.

"Are you sure you're not sick?" Naruto questioned suspiciously. "Your face is all red..."

_N-Naruto...is so close! _Hinata thought wildly.

"A-Ah, I'm f-fine!" Hinata blurted suddenly, stumbling away from him a bit as she clutched the strap of her backpack tighter.

Naruto eyed her intently for a long time before shrugging. "Okayyyy."

Ino cupped her palm over her eyes and squinted in the sunlight. "Oh, there's my mom! See ya later, Naruto, Hinata!" Ino rushed off.

Hinata blushed softly. She was alone...with Naruto...

Naruto sighed ruefully. "Well, gotta go. See you tomorrow, Hinata!" He smiled at her before running off. Hinata's heart sank as her smile faded, only to be replaced with a melancholy frown.

At that moment, Hinata realized what that feeling was. She wished Naruto wouldn't leave so soon...she wished he would stay with her longer.

As she walked home by herself, she realized...that she had developed feelings for Naruto Uzumaki.


End file.
